Adjacent Words

Acacia definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ACA'CIA, n. [L. acacia, a thorn, from Gr., a point.]
Egyptian thorn, a species of plant ranked by Linne under the genus mimosa, and by others, made a distinct genus. Of the flowers of one species, the Chinese make a yellow dye which bears washing in silks, and appears with elegance on paper.
ACACIA, in medicine, is a name given to the inspissated juice of the unripe fruit of the Mimosa Nilotica, which is brought from Egypt in roundish masses, in bladders.
Externally, it is of a deep brown color; internally, of a reddish or yellowish brown; of a firm consistence, but not very dry. It is a mild astringent. But most of the drug which passes under this name, is the inspissated juice of sloes.
ACACIA, among antiquaries, is a name given to something like a roll or bag, seen on medals, as in the hands of emperors and consuls. Some take it to represent a handkerchief rolled up, with which signals were given at the games; others, a roll of petitions; and some, a purple bag of earth, to remind them of their mortality.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of various spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: New Latin, genus name, from Latin, acacia tree, from Greek akakia Date: 14th century 1. gum arabic 2. any of a large genus (Acacia) of leguminous shrubs and trees of warm regions with leaves pinnate or reduced to phyllodes and white or yellow flower clusters

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 any tree of the genus Acacia, with yellow or white flowers, esp. A. senegal yielding gum arabic. 2 (also false acacia) the locust tree, Robinia pseudoacacia, grown for ornament. Etymology: L f. Gk akakia

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Locust tree Lo"cust tree` [Etymol. uncertain.] (Bot.) A large North American tree of the genus Robinia (R. Pseudacacia), producing large slender racemes of white, fragrant, papilionaceous flowers, and often cultivated as an ornamental tree. In England it is called acacia. Note: The name is also applied to other trees of different genera, especially to those of the genus Hymen[ae]a, of which H. Courbaril is a lofty, spreading tree of South America; also to the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua), a tree growing in the Mediterranean region. Honey locust tree (Bot.), a tree of the genus Gleditschia ) G. triacanthus), having pinnate leaves and strong branching thorns; -- so called from a sweet pulp found between the seeds in the pods. Called also simply honey locust. Water locust tree (Bot.), a small swamp tree (Gleditschia monosperma), of the Southern United States.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Acacia A*ca"ci*a, n. (Antiq.) A roll or bag, filled with dust, borne by Byzantine emperors, as a memento of mortality. It is represented on medals.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Acacia A*ca"cia, n.; pl. E. Acacias, L. Acaci[ae]. [L. from Gr. ?; orig. the name of a thorny tree found in Egypt; prob. fr. the root ak to be sharp. See Acute.] 1. A genus of leguminous trees and shrubs. Nearly 300 species are Australian or Polynesian, and have terete or vertically compressed leaf stalks, instead of the bipinnate leaves of the much fewer species of America, Africa, etc. Very few are found in temperate climates. 2. (Med.) The inspissated juice of several species of acacia; -- called also gum acacia, and gum arabic.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(acacias, or acacia) An acacia or an acacia tree is a tree which grows in warm countries and which usually has small yellow or white flowers. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. shittim) Ex. 25:5, R.V. probably the Acacia seyal (the gum-arabic tree); called the "shittah" tree (Isa. 41:19). Its wood is called shittim wood (Ex. 26:15,26; 25:10,13,23,28, etc.). This species (A. seyal) is like the hawthorn, a gnarled and thorny tree. It yields the gum-arabic of commerce. It is found in abundance in the Sinaitic peninsula.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-ka'-sha (shiTTah, the shittah tree of the King James Version, Isa 41:19, and `atse-shiTTah, acacia wood; shittah wood the King James Version, Ex 25:5,10,13; 26:15,26; 27:1,6; De 10:3.): ShiTTah (= shinTah) is equivalent to the Arabic sant which is now the name of the Acacia Nilotica (NO, Leguminosae), but no doubt the name once included other species of desert acacias. If one particular species is indicated in the Old Testament it is probably the Acacia Seyal--the Arabic Seyyal--which yields the well-known gum- arabic This tree, which has finely leaves ular flowers, grows to a height of twenty feet or more, and its stem may sometimes reach two feet in thickness. The tree often assumes a characteristic umbrella-like form. The wood is close-grained and is not readily attacked by insects. It would be well suited for such purposes as described, the construction of the ark of the covenant, the altar and boarding of the tabernacle. Even today these trees survive in considerable numbers around `Ain Jidy and in the valleys to the south.

E. W. G. Masterman