anise

See also: anisé and a-nise

English

Pimpinella anisum

Etymology

From Middle English anys, borrowed from Old French anis, from Latin anīsum, from Ancient Greek ἄνισον (ánison), from Egyptian jnst.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈæn.ɪs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæn.ɪs/, /æˈnis/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæn.ɪs/, /əˈnis/
• Rhymes: -ɪs, -iːs

Noun

anise (countable and uncountable, plural anises)

2. An umbelliferous plant (Pimpinella anisum) growing naturally in Egypt, and cultivated in Spain, Malta, etc., for its carminative and aromatic seeds, which are used as a spice. It has a licorice scent.
   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 212:

     A concoction consisting of saffron, orange blossoms, dried dates, anise, wild carrots, and egg yolk, boiled in clear water into which honey and the blood of two freshly killed doves have been poured, is recommended by Arabs as a sexual inducement.

3. (US, often qualified as "sweet anise" or "wild anise") Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare.
   • 1934, The Gull (Golden Gate Audubon Society), volumes 16-29, page 25:

     […] of the butcherbirds which were perched on the electric wires skirting the road must be nesting birds, and that in the absence of trees or brush they must be nesting in some of the weeds along the highway, mostly anise (Foeniculum vulgare).

Usage notes

• Although fennel is sometimes referred to as anise (even in books), such usage is considered incorrect and leads to confusion with true anise.

Synonyms

• anix

Derived terms

• aniseed
• anise hyssop
• aniselike
• aniseroot
• anise seed
• anisette
• anisey
• anisic
• anisole
• Chinese anise
• Florida anise
• star anise
• star of anise
• sweet anise
• wild anise

Translations

plant

• Afrikaans: anys
• Albanian: anasoni
• Arabic: أَنْسُون m (ʔansūn), يَانَسُون m (yānasūn)

  Egyptian Arabic: يانسون m (yansuun)

  Hijazi Arabic: يانسون m (yānasūn, yānsūn)

• Armenian: անիսոն (hy) (anison)
• Bulgarian: анасон (bg) (anason)
• Catalan: anís (ca) m, matafaluga (ca) f
• Cebuano: anis, sangki
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 茴芹 (zh) (huíqín)

• Czech: anýz m
• Danish: anis (da)
• Dutch: anijs (nl) m
• Esperanto: anizujo (plant); anizo (spice)
• Finnish: anisruoho (fi) (plant); anis (fi) (spice)
• French: anis (fr) m
• Galician: anís (gl) m
• German: Anis (de) m
• Greek: γλυκάνισος (el) n (glykánisos), άνισον n (ánison), άνισο (el) n (ániso) (rare)

  Ancient: ἄνισον n (ánison)

• Hebrew: אניס
• Hungarian: ánizs (hu)
• Ido: anizo (io)
• Indonesian: adas manis (id)
• Irish: ainís f
• Italian: anice (it), anace m
• Japanese: アニス (anisu), 八角 (ja) (はっかく, hakkaku)
• Korean: 아니스 (aniseu)
• Latin: anīsum n
• Lithuanian: anyžius
• Luxembourgish: Anäis
• Macedonian: анасон m (anason), разијане n (razijane)
• Maltese: ħlewwa f
• Maori: kopoti, anihi, naupiro
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: anis (no) m

  Nynorsk: anis m

• Occitan: anís (oc) m
• Persian: انیسون (fa) (anisun)
• Polish: anyż (pl) m
• Portuguese: anis (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਸੌਂਫ (pa) f (saumph)
• Romanian: anison (ro) m, anason (ro) m
• Russian: ани́с (ru) m (anís)
• Sardinian: anis
• Serbo-Croatian: anis (sh) m
• Slovak: aníz (sk) m
• Slovene: janež (sl) m
• Spanish: anís (es) m, matalahúva f
• Swedish: anis (sv) c
• Tamil: சோம்பு (ta) (cōmpu)
• Tocharian B: pissau
• Turkish: anason (tr)
• Yiddish: ענעס m (enes), אַניז (aniz), אייניס (eynis), עניס (enis), אַניס (anis)

fennel — see fennel

See also

• five-spice powder
• mastika
• ouzo
• raki

Anagrams

• Aisne, IESNA, Saine, Siena, asine, isnae

French

Verb

anise

1. inflection of aniser:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• aînés, saine, seina

Spanish

Verb

anise

1. inflection of anisar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative