online medical dictionary | definition of mastic

1. <botany> A low shrubby tree of the genus Pistacia (P. Lentiscus), growing upon the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean, and producing a valuable resin; called also, mastic tree.

2. A resin exuding from the mastic tree, and obtained by incision. The best is in yellowish white, semitransparent tears, of a faint smell, and is used as an astringent and an aromatic, also as an ingredient in varnishes.

3. A kind of cement composed of burnt clay, litharge, and linseed oil, used for plastering walls, etc.

<botany> Barbary mastic, a lofty tree (Bursera gummifera) full of gum resin in every part.

Origin: F, fr. L. Mastiche, mastichum, Gr, fr. To chew, because of its being used in the East for chewing

Alternative forms: mastich.

(01 Mar 1998)