gum arabic

English

Alternative forms

  • gum-arabic, gumarabic

Etymology

gum + Arabic; the name was used in Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages since the 9th century (صَمْغ عَرَبِيّ (ṣamḡ ʕarabiyy)), and retained in the languages of Europeans who first acquired it via Arab ports.

Noun

gum arabic (countable and uncountable, plural gums arabic)

  1. An edible substance taken from one of two species of sub-Saharan acacia trees, Senegalia senegal and Vachellia seyal, used in the food industry as a stabilizer (e.g. in soda, gumdrops and marshmallows) and other purposes including pharmaceuticals, paints and polishes.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.