Meanings
plural gums arabic · alternative gum-arabic · alternative gumarabic
- countableuncountableAn 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, gum acacia, acacia gum, Arabian gum, Arabic gum, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn 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.
More synonyms by meaning
noungum from an acacia tree; used as a thickener (especially in candies and pharmaceuticals)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans arabiese gom
- arabiese gomsubstance from acacia trees
Arabic صَمْغ عَرَبِيّ, عِلْكَة عَرَبِيَّة
- صَمْغ عَرَبِيّ (ṣamḡ ʕarabiyy)substance from acacia trees
- عِلْكَة عَرَبِيَّة (ʕilka ʕarabiyya)substance from acacia trees
Basque oietako arabiera
- oietako arabierasubstance from acacia trees
Bengali আরবি আঠা
- আরবি আঠা (arobi aṭha)substance from acacia trees
Bulgarian гума арабика
- гума арабика (guma arabika)substance from acacia trees
Catalan goma aràbiga
- goma aràbigasubstance from acacia trees
Chinese Mandarin 阿拉伯膠 /阿拉伯胶
- 阿拉伯膠 /阿拉伯胶 (Ālābó jiāo)substance from acacia trees
Czech arabská guma
- arabská gumasubstance from acacia trees
Danish gummi arabikum
- gummi arabikumsubstance from acacia trees
Dutch arabische gom
- arabische gomsubstance from acacia trees
Finnish arabikumi
- arabikumisubstance from acacia trees
French gomme arabique
- gomme arabiquesubstance from acacia trees
German Gummiarabikum
- Gummiarabikumsubstance from acacia trees
Hebrew גומי ערבי
- גומי ערביsubstance from acacia trees
Hindi गोंद
- गोंद (gond)substance from acacia trees
Hungarian gumiarabikum
- gumiarabikumsubstance from acacia trees
Icelandic arabískt gúmmí
- arabískt gúmmísubstance from acacia trees
Indonesian gom arab
- gom arabsubstance from acacia trees
Irish guma arabach
- guma arabachsubstance from acacia trees
Japanese アラビアゴム
- アラビアゴム (arabiagomu)substance from acacia trees
Korean 아라비아고무
- 아라비아고무 (arabiagomu)substance from acacia trees
Latvian gumiarābiks
- gumiarābikssubstance from acacia trees
Lithuanian gumiarabikas
- gumiarabikassubstance from acacia trees
Malay gam arab
- gam arabsubstance from acacia trees
Māori kāpia Arāpi
- kāpia Arāpisubstance from acacia trees
Norwegian gummi arabiku
- gummi arabikusubstance from acacia trees
Persian صمغ عربی, انگم عربی
- صمغ عربی (samġ-e 'arabi)substance from acacia trees
- انگم عربی (angom-e 'arabi)substance from acacia trees
Polish guma arabska
- guma arabskasubstance from acacia trees
Portuguese goma-arábica
- goma-arábicasubstance from acacia trees
Punjabi ਅਰਬੀ ਗੂੰਦ
- ਅਰਬੀ ਗੂੰਦ (arabī gūnd)substance from acacia trees
Romanian gumă arabică
- gumă arabicăsubstance from acacia trees
Russian гуммиара́бик
- гуммиара́бик (gummiarábik)substance from acacia trees
Spanish goma arábiga
- goma arábigasubstance from acacia trees
Swahili sandarusi
- sandarusisubstance from acacia trees
Swedish gumi arabicum
- gumi arabicumsubstance from acacia trees
Tamil அரேபியப்பசை
- அரேபியப்பசை (arēpiyappacai)substance from acacia trees
Thai หมากฝรั่งอาหรับ
- หมากฝรั่งอาหรับsubstance from acacia trees
Turkish Arap zamkı, zamkıarabi
- Arap zamkısubstance from acacia trees
- zamkıarabisubstance from acacia trees
Ukrainian гуміарабік
- гуміарабік (humiarabik)substance from acacia trees
Urdu عربی گم
- عربی گمsubstance from acacia trees
Vietnamese gôm Ả Rập
- gôm Ả Rậpsubstance from acacia trees
Welsh gwm Arabaidd
- gwm Arabaiddsubstance from acacia trees
Yiddish גומע אַראַביש
- גומע אַראַביש (gume arabish)substance from acacia trees
Cite this entry
gum arabic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gum%20arabic
“gum arabic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gum%20arabic. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gum arabic,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gum%20arabic.
Source: gum arabic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.