Webster's English Dictionary

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tragacanth

trag.a.canth \'traj-*-.kan(t)th, 'trag-, -k*n(t)th; 'trag-*-.san(t)th\ n 
   [MF tragacanthe, fr. L tragacantha, fr. Gk tragakantha, fr. (Xtragos goat + 
   akantha thorn - more at ACANTH- : a gum obtained from various Asiatic or 
   East European leguminous plants ( genus Astragalus, esp. A. gummifer) that 
   swells in water and is used in the arts and in pharmacy; also : a plant 
   yielding this