acacia

[uh-key-shuh]

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.

acacia

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of acacia¹

1535–45; < Latin < Greek akakía Egyptian thorn

Word History and Origins

Origin of acacia¹

C16: from Latin, from Greek akakia, perhaps related to akē point

Example Sentences

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

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

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

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

Read more on 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.

Read more on Salon