[a. Lat. acacia, a. Gr. ἀκακία, of uncertain origin; perh. containing ἀκή a point, in reference to its thorns.]
1. Bot. A genus of Leguminous shrubs or trees, of the Mimosa tribe, found in the warmer regions of the Old World; several species of which yield Gum Acacia or Gum Arabic, Catechu, and other products; they form in Australia thickets called scrubs.
1543. Traheron, Vigo (1586), 429. Acacia is a thorny tree growing in Egipte.
1712. Pomet, Hist. of Drugs, I. 17. He raised several Acacias, which are very prickly.
c. 1854. Stanley, Sinai & Palest. (1858), i. 20. The wild Acacia (Mimosa Nilotica) everywhere represents the ‘sench’ or ‘senna’ of the Burning Bush.
1866. Lindley & Moore, Treas. Bot., 5. The aspect of an Acacia scrub, which is one of the characteristic features of Australian vegetation.
2. pop. The North-American Locust-tree, called also False-Acacia (Robinia pseud-Acacia), with sweet-scented white flowers, grown as an ornamental tree in England.
1664. Evelyn, Sylva (1776), II. iv. 358. The Acacia … deserves a place among our Avenue Trees.
1816. Shelley, Alastor, 437. The ash and the acacia floating hang Tremulous and pale.
1855. Tennyson, Maud, I. xxii. 45. The slender acacia would not shake One long milk-bloom on the tree.
3. Med. The inspissated juice of the unripe fruit of species of Acacia and Mimosa, used as a drug.
1601. Holland, Pliny (1634), II. 194. There is a kind of Thorne, whereof commeth Acacia … found in Egypt.
1769. Hill, Fam. Herbal. (1812), 2. German acacia is the juice of unripe sloes evaporated.
1853. Mayne, Exp. Lex., s.v. Acacia … the pharmacopœial name for gum-Arabic … the concrete juice of Acacia vera, etc.
