n. 1. Any of various often spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia in the pea family, having alternate, bipinnately compound leaves or leaves represented by flattened leafstalks and heads or spikes of small flowers. 2. Any of several other plants in the pea family, especially of the genus Robinia. 3. See gum arabic. [Middle English, from Latin, from Greek akakiā.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.