[ad. Malay kachu (Canarese kāchu, kācchu) catechu. The name occurs in Portuguese authors of 16th c. as cacho, and in 17–18th-c. Eng. writers as cacha, cotch. See CATECHU.] The commercial name of the catechu obtained from Acacia Catechu, used in tanning, etc.
[1617. Cocks, Diary (1883), I. 294 (Y.). 7 hhds. drugs cacha; 5 hampers pochok.]
1759. in A. Dalrymple, Oriental Repertory (1793), I. 109 (Y.). Hartal, Turmerick, Cotch, Wax, Earth-oil, and Wood-oil.
1805. Hatchett, in Phil. Trans., XCV. 288. Twenty grains of the common cutch or catechu.
1865. J. G. Bertram, Harvest of Sea (1873), 179. Boilers bubble with the brown catechu, locally called ‘cutch,’ which is used as a preservative for the nets and sails.
b. attrib., as cutch tree.
1888. Times, 22 Oct., 13/5. The acacia catechu, or cutch tree, is found in large forests…; the wood is chipped, boiled, and the cutch thus extracted.
