acacia

American  

[uh-key-shuh] / əˈkeɪ ʃə /

noun

1. a small tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia, of the mimosa family, having clusters of small yellow flowers.

2. any of several other plants, as the locust tree.

3. gum arabic.

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acacia British  

/ əˈkeɪʃə /

noun

1. any shrub or tree of the tropical and subtropical leguminous genus Acacia, having compound or reduced leaves and small yellow or white flowers in dense inflorescences See also wattle 1

2. another name for locust locust

3. another name for gum arabic

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Etymology

Origin of acacia

1535–45; < Latin < Greek akakía Egyptian thorn

Example Sentences

These 4,600-year-old funerary boats, made of cedar and acacia, were intended to transport the king into the afterlife.

From Barron's

Elephants around Lake Manyara in Tanzania were killing acacia trees by ripping off bark and leaving “pale ghostly white trunks.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Amira's lowest moment came when a tyre burst as she was travelling through an acacia forest, leaving passengers stranded without any water.

From BBC

Above Landman’s wrist, a zebra bends to graze, while a giraffe behind steps through a stand of wind-bent acacia trees.

From Los Angeles Times

In inland areas, widespread tree-planting programs in the late 1980s and 1990s finally took root, but they focused on planting exotic trees like acacia, which did not restore the original diversity of the natural forests.

From Salon