tacamahac, tacamahaca
(ˈtækəməhæk), (ˌtækəməˈhɑːkə)
Also 7–8 tacamahacca, 8 tacamahack, 8 taccamahac, tacamacha, tacka mohacca.
[ad. obs. Sp. tacamahaca, in Hernandez 1614 thecomahaca, ad. Aztec tecomahiyac; mod.Sp. tacamaca. Cf. Monardes 1579 ‘ex Nova Hispania..ab Indis tacamahaca vocatum’. In F. tacamaque. Tacamahac is the more usual form, and that recognized in North America in sense 2.]
1. An aromatic resin, used for incense, and formerly extensively in medicine. a. orig. That yielded by a Mexican tree, Bursera (Elaphrium) tomentosa. b. Extended in the West Indies and S. America to similar resins obtained from other species of Bursera and the allied genus Protium, and subsequently to resins imported from Madagascar, Bourbon, and the East Indies, chiefly the product of species of Calophyllum.
| 1577 Frampton Joyful News i. 3 Gumme called Tacamahaca. 1616 Bullokar Eng. Expos., Tacamahaca, a Rosin brought out of the West Indies, of great vertue against any cold humours [etc.]. 1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3898/3 The Cargo of the Galeon.., consisting of..Jollop, Gum Elemni, Tacka Mohacca,..&c. 1714 Fr. Bk. of Rates 92 Gum call'd Tacamacha p. 100 Weight 05 05. 1718 Quincy Compl. Disp. 137 Tacamahack is a resinous Gum, from the West Indies. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 108 Apply to the Cheek Gum Tacamahac spread on Silk. 1802 Naval Chron. VIII. 150 (I. of France) Tacamahaca, stinking wood. 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 460 Tacamahac from Elaphrium tomentosum. Ibid. 401 The true East India Tacamahaca is produced by Calophyllum Calaba. |
2. The resin of the buds of the N. American Balsam Poplar, Populus balsamifera; hence a name of this tree.
| 1739 Miller Gard. Dict. (ed. 3) II. Addenda s.v., The Tacamahaca. This Tree grows spontaneously on the Continent of America. 1759 Ibid. (ed. 7) s.v. Populus, The Buds of this Tree are covered with a glutinous Resin, which smells very strong, and this is the Tacamahacca used in the Shops. 1786 J. Abercrombie Arrangem. in Gard. Assist. 32/1 Tacamahacca, or great balsam poplar. 1842 Selby Brit. Forest Trees 213 The list of Tacamahacs mentioned by Loudon. 1846 Lindley Veg. Kingd. 255 Poplar buds, especially those of P[opulus] nigra, balsamifera, and candicans, are besmeared in winter with a resinous..exudation, which [passes] under the name of Tacamahac. 1881 tr. Verne's Fur Country 95 Jaspar also noticed the tacamahac, a species of poplar which grows to a great height. |