tacamahac

Alternative forms

• tacamahaca

Etymology

From Nahuatl tecamac.^[1]

In the 19th century, some authorities questioned if tacamahac, tamarack, and hackmatack could be cognate to one another, perhaps all corruptions of one term, but such cognacy is unlikely.^[2]

Noun

tacamahac (countable and uncountable, plural tacamahacs)

1. A bitter balsamic resin or resinous exudation obtained from tropical American trees of the family Burseraceae (Bursera tomentosa and Icica tacamahaca), from East Indian trees of the genus Calophyllum, or from the balsam poplar.
2. Any tree yielding tacamahac resin, especially, in North America, the balsam poplar or balm of Gilead (Populus balsamifera).

References

• tacamahac in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913