Catechu

ahd-5
  • noun. A spiny Asian tree (Acacia catechu) having bipinnately compound leaves, spikes of yellow flowers, and dark heartwood.
  • noun. A raw material obtained from the heartwood of this plant, used in the preparation of tannins and brown dyes.
    • The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  • noun. It is used extensively in cotton-dyeing, under the name of cutch, for the production of tan shades. It consists chiefly of two principles, catechu-tannic acid, and catechin or catechuic acid, which are accompanied by a brown amorphous substance called japonic acid. Japonic acid is the final oxidation-product of catechuic acid, and catechu-tannic acid is an intermediate oxidation-product. Bombay catechu, obtained from the heart-wood of the catechu palm. Areca Catechu, is considered the best quality for dyeing purposes; its principal constituent is catechu-tannic acid. Bengal catechu, obtained from the pods and twigs of the acacia, is less soluble than Bombay catechu. Cube catechu is the same as gambier catechu, which is a product of the leaves of Ouronparia Gambier and is sold in the form of yellow cubes.
  • noun. A name common to several astringent extracts prepared from the wood, bark, and fruit of various plants.
    • the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
  • noun. A dry, brown, astringent extract, obtained by decoction and evaporation from the Acacia catechu, and several other plants growing in India. It contains a large portion of tannin or tannic acid, and is used in medicine and in the arts. It is also known by the names terra japonica, cutch, gambier, etc.
    • Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
  • noun. A gummy extract of any of several species of Acacia, produced by boiling the wood of the tree in water and evaporating the resulting liquid.
    • WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
  • noun. East Indian spiny tree having twice-pinnate leaves and yellow flowers followed by flat pods; source of black catechu
  • noun. extract of the heartwood of Acacia catechu used for dyeing and tanning and preserving fishnets and sails; formerly used medicinally
    • Word Usage
    "The manufacture of catechu from the _Acacia catechu_ as practised in Canara and Behar, has been described by Mr. Kerr ( "Med."
    cross-reference
    catechu brown  terra catechu  
    Hypernym
    Words that are more generic or abstract
    acacia  extract  infusion  
    Same Context
    Words that are found in similar contexts
    Quassia  alum  bentonite  blood-stream  cornel  
    Synonym
    Words with the same meaning
    Japanese earth  cachou  cashoo  cutch  
    variant
    cutch  gambier  terra japonica  
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