Gutta-percha
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An inelastic natural latex, produced from the sap of several tropical trees of the genera Palaquium and Payena. countable, uncountable
"Resin, pitch, sealing-wax, caoutchouc, sulphur, gutta-percha, and generally all bodies commonly termed resinous, besides a great variety of others, will be found to acquire, after friction, the power of attracting light bodies, and hence will be said, according to a limitation of terms already accepted, to be in an electrized or electrified state ."
- 2 a whitish rubber derived from the coagulated milky latex of gutta-percha trees; used for insulation of electrical cables wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"Resin, pitch, sealing-wax, caoutchouc, sulphur, gutta-percha, and generally all bodies commonly termed resinous, besides a great variety of others, will be found to acquire, after friction, the power of attracting light bodies, and hence will be said, according to a limitation of terms already accepted, to be in an electrized or electrified state ."
Etymology
Borrowed from Malay getah perca.
Related phrases
More for "gutta-percha"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.