gum arabic
gum arabic noun: 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.
Noun
gum arabic (countable and uncountable, plural gums arabic)
- 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:
- E414 when used as a thickener, stabiliser, emulsifier, gum acacia, acacia gum, Arabian gum, Arabic gum, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum
gum arabic meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
gum arabic in Hindi
- substance from acacia trees
- गोंद gond
gum arabic in Tamil
- substance from acacia trees
- அரேபியப்பசை arēpiyappacai
gum arabic in Marathi
- substance from acacia trees
- डिंक अरबी ḍiṅka arbī
gum arabic in Urdu
- substance from acacia trees
- عربی گم
More languagesFewer languages
- gum arabic in Bengali
- আরবি আঠা arobi aṭha
- gum arabic in Telugu
- తుమ్మబంక tummabaṅka
- gum arabic in Malayalam
- ഗം അറബിക് gaṁ aṟabikŭ
- gum arabic in Punjabi
- ਅਰਬੀ ਗੂੰਦ arabī gūnd
- gum arabic in Gujarati
- ગમ અરબી gam arabī
- gum arabic in Nepali
- गम अरबी gam arabī
- gum arabic in Pashto
- شيره عربي
- gum arabic in Arabic
- صَمْغ عَرَبِيّ ṣamḡ ʕarabiyy, عِلْكَة عَرَبِيَّة ʕilka ʕarabiyya
- gum arabic in Malay
- gam arab
- gum arabic in Indonesian
- gom arab
- gum arabic in Persian
- صمغ عربی samġ-e 'arabi, انگم عربی angom-e 'arabi
- gum arabic in Thai
- หมากฝรั่งอาหรับ
- gum arabic in Vietnamese
- gôm Ả Rập
- Sindhi
- گم عربي gm ʻrbe
Synonyms of gum arabic
- E414 when used as a thickener
- stabiliser
- emulsifier
- gum acacia
- acacia gum
- Arabian gum
- Arabic gum
- acacia
- Senegal gum
- Indian gum
1 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of gum arabic
| plural | gums arabic |
|---|---|
| alternative form | gum-arabic |
| alternative form | gumarabic |
Origin of gum arabic
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.
Words formed from gum arabic
- gum arabic tree
Questions about gum arabic
- What does gum arabic mean?
- Gum arabic means 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.
- What is gum arabic in Hindi?
- Gum arabic in Hindi is गोंद (gond). See Gum arabic meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is gum arabic?
- Gum arabic is a noun.
- What is the plural of gum arabic?
- The plural of gum arabic is gums arabic.
Words near gum arabic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gum arabic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gum arabic.wav.
Cite this entry: “gum arabic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gum_arabic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.