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

Vast stretches of a once-verdant acacia forest south of Sudan's capital Khartoum have been reduced to little more than fields of stumps as nearly three years of conflict have fuelled deforestation.

From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026

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 • Oct. 30, 2025

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 • Jul. 31, 2025

The school is in a compound made up of 10 classrooms arranged in a horseshoe shape around a playground where acacia trees and plants spring out of the sandy soil.

From BBC • Jul. 14, 2024

By that time I was bruised all over from the cows banging into me, and my legs were bloody from the scratches I got from the acacia thorns.

From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola