Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

gum arabic

noun

Definition of gum arabic

  1. :  a water-soluble gum obtained from several acacias (especially Acacia senegal) and used especially in the manufacture of inks, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, and confections

See gum arabic defined for kids

Explore M-W

image386126722
Words That Come From the Dinner Table
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
alt-59721dd897313
The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail
alt-597233d35a146
Trending: 'Scaramouch,' Scaramucci Possibly to Fandango

First Known Use of gum arabic

14th century

Medical Dictionary

gum arabic

play
noun gum ar·a·bic \-ˈar-ə-bik\

Medical Definition of gum arabic

  1. :  a water-soluble gum obtained from several leguminous plants of the genus Acacia (especially A. senegal and A. arabica) and used especially in pharmacy to suspend insoluble substances in water, to prepare emulsions, and to make pills and lozenges—called also acacia, gum acacia

Learn More about gum arabic

  1. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about gum arabic

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up gum arabic? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

tare

play

the weight of a container

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. scaramouch A new White House communications director

  2. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  3. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

  4. calumny 'An untrue statement that is made to damage someone's reputation'

  5. kakistocracy Frustrated Twitter users have been searching for this word.

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

gum arabic

Test Your Vocabulary

The Emoji Quiz

  • emoji-the-quiz
  • What phase of the moon is this: 🌖 ?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59721dd897313
The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

Give them your best

image386126722
Words and Phrases That Come from the Dinner Table

Fill your plate with these surprising food words

ghost-being-disinvited-from-party
'Disinvite' or 'Uninvite'?

A disinvited guest is an uninvited problem

alt-596f730ceb5ae
Words We're Watching: 'Scoby'

Kombucha lovers unite.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
image941935269
A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game