noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of anise
1350–1400; Middle English anis < Old French < Latin anīsum < Greek ánīson
Explanation
Anise is a plant that produces seeds that smell and taste like black licorice. Cookies, vegetables, and liqueurs can all be flavored with anise. The anise plant produces white flowers and small fruits or seeds. It's the seeds that are used, whole or ground, to flavor various foods — in fact, anise is often referred to as aniseed. Anise itself is an Old English word, from the 13th century Old French anis and ultimately the Greek root anison, which confusingly means both anise and "dill."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Announced last week in a post on Instagram, the drink was described as a “clarified tonic” with coconut water, jasmine tea, raw honey, holy basil, anise hyssop, green cardamom, white grape juice and coconut milk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Tarragon has a subtle anise, fennel-like flavor, and its leaves are slender and softer than other herbs.
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2025
Timothy Sharp, manager of Sparrow Coffee House in Cardiff, makes his own homemade syrup, adding spices like cloves, cardamom and star anise to the core PSL ingredients of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2024
It’s too bad, because from what I’ve found, there is no reliable catnip equivalent for dogs, although you can give anise a try.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2024
She found that mouse ear and willow can help stop bleeding and that a tea of anise and dill and bitter milkwort will help when milk will not come.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
