Webster's 1913 Dictionary
GUTTA-PERCHA
Gut "ta-per `cha, n. Etym: [Malay gutah gum + pertja the tree from which is it procured. ]
Defn: A concrete juice produced by various trees found in the Malayan archipelago, especially by the Isonandra, or Dichopsis, Gutta. It becomes soft, and unpressible at the tamperature of boiling water, and, on cooling, retains its new shape. It dissolves in oils and ethers, but not in water. In many of its properties it resembles caoutchouc, and it is extensively used for many economical purposes. The Mimusops globosa of Guiana also yields this material.
New American Oxford Dictionary
gutta-percha
gut ta-per cha |ˌgətə ˈpərCHə ɡətəˈpɜːrtʃə | ▶noun a hard, tough thermoplastic substance that is the coagulated latex of certain Malaysian trees. It consists chiefly of a hydrocarbon isomeric with rubber and is now used chiefly in dentistry and for electrical insulation. [This substance is obtained from trees of the genus Palaquium, family Sapotaceae, in particular P. gutta. ] ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from Malay getah perca, from getah ‘gum ’ + perca ‘strips of cloth ’ (which it resembles ), altered by association with obsolete gutta ‘gum, ’ from Latin gutta ‘a drop. ’
Oxford Dictionary
gutta-percha
gutta-percha |ˌgʌtəˈpəːtʃə | ▶noun [ mass noun ] a hard tough thermoplastic substance which is the coagulated latex of certain Malaysian trees. It consists chiefly of a hydrocarbon isomeric with rubber and is now used chiefly in dentistry and for electrical insulation. ●This substance is obtained from trees of the genus Palaquium, family Sapotaceae, in particular P. gutta. ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from Malay getah perca, from getah ‘gum ’ + perca ‘strips of cloth ’ (which it resembles ), altered by association with obsolete gutta ‘gum ’, from Latin gutta ‘a drop ’.
The Wordsmith Dictionary