acacia

American  

[uh-key-shuh] / əˈkeɪ ʃə /

noun

• acacias
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• acacias
  plural

Etymology

Origin of acacia

1535–45; < Latin < Greek akakía Egyptian thorn

Explanation

An acacia is a kind of tree or bush that grows in very warm climates. If you visit Australia, you're likely to see an acacia. Acacias are found in places like South America, Africa, and parts of Asia, though the majority of acacias grow in Australia. Many acacias have tiny leaves and are covered in thorns, although there are varieties that aren't thorny — still, the name itself comes from the Greek word akakia, "thorny Egyptian tree," probably rooted in ake, or "thorn."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

acacia acacias

Bottle bio: Accented with peach, apricot, acacia, and floral notes, this sparkling variety hails from the cool-climate of California’s Anderson Valley.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

In the oldest known writing in Marathi, a language spoken by millions in western and central India, a 13th-century religious leader named Cakradhara points to an acacia tree as a symbol of death and rebirth.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 1, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2025

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 ● Aug. 27, 2025

The heat in the acacia thicket was overpowering.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Where tall acacias once cast cool shade over a wetland just upstream from the confluence of the Blue and White Nile, barren ground now lies exposed, criss-crossed by people gathering whatever wood remains.

From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026

Pierce’s former Ph.D. student Zhengyang Wang, now a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, and the other field technicians noticed they could predict which acacias one ant species lived in before even touching the tree.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 29, 2024

In those 15 million acres, how many colonies of rare orchids or sundews or acacias have been consumed forever?

From Washington Post ● Jan. 21, 2020

Even wispy acacias are hacked away for use in cooking fires to feed growing families.

From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2018

“No, no, no, no,” she whimpered as the prow swung toward shore and crunched into a mass of acacias.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer