acacia

[uh-key-shuh]

noun

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

any of several other plants, as the locust tree.

gum arabic.

Origin of acacia

1535–45; < Latin < Greek akakía Egyptian thorn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for acacia

Contemporary Examples of acacia

The basic Acacia model, equipped with seven branches that have a combined capacity of 1.4 kilowatts, costs $100,000.
Parks and Regeneration
The Daily Beast
November 3, 2014
In every direction there were wide skies, gold grass hills and acacia trees.
Borana Joins the Fight to Save Kenya’s Rhinos…and Wants You to Help Too
Joanna Eede
February 18, 2014
Beyond the river, caramel plains rolled away to the distant horizon, spotted with acacia trees and slow-moving giraffe.
Walking With Wildebeests: Exploring the Serengeti on Foot
Joanna Eede
July 9, 2013
We saw a small group of women and children under an acacia tree and my friend and I walked toward them.
Isabel Allende: How a Mysterious Baby Girl Sparked My Fight for Women
Isabel Allende
October 20, 2012

Historical Examples of acacia

If an Acacia, Mr. Bentham says, it is different from any he knows.
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia
Thomas Mitchell
What walks there are where the air is all fragrance of acacia and rose and orange blossoms!
Italy, the Magic Land
Lilian Whiting
Death lurked for her, there outside in the dark, from behind the acacia tree!
A Bride of the Plains
Baroness Emmuska Orczy
"The acacia tree will still be there," said Miss Ponsonby firmly.
Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906
Lucy Maud Montgomery
No. 31562, which was obtained in a yucca and acacia association, had little fat.
Birds from Coahuila, Mexico
Emil K. Urban

British Dictionary definitions for acacia

acacia

noun

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 inflorescencesSee also wattle 1 (def. 4)

false acacia another name for locust (def. 2), locust (def. 3)

gum acacia another name for gum arabic

Word Origin for acacia

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for acacia

1540s, from Latin acacia, from Greek akakia "thorny Egyptian tree," perhaps related to Greek ake "point, thorn," from PIE root *ak- "sharp" (see acrid). Or perhaps a Hellenization of some Egyptian word. From late 14c. in English as the name of a type of gum used as an astringent, etc.