What is "acanthaceous"

Acanthaceous \Ac"an*tha"ceous\, a.

1. Armed with prickles, as a plant.

2. (Bot.) Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the family of plants of which the acanthus is the type.

a. 1 (context botany English): Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a member of the Acanthaceae family.(First attested in the mid 18th century.)Brown, Lesley, ed. ''The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.'' 5th. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. 2 Armed with prickles, as a plant.