shea butter

noun

1. a solid, greenish, yellowish, or whitish fat derived from the seeds of the shea tree, used for food and in the manufacture of soaps and candles.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shea butter¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

The move is aimed at making the trade more lucrative as Nigeria is losing out by not producing much shea butter locally.

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Harvested fruit from shea nut trees have to be crushed, roasted and boiled to extract their oil to produce the shea butter used in cosmetics.

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A former biology teacher-turned-environmentalist is on a crusade in Uganda to save the once-flourishing trees from which shea butter is made - the cosmetic known as "women's gold".

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This loss, combined with the poor harvests, has had a direct impact on people like Mariam Chandiru, a local shea butter producer for many years in the northern town of Koboko.

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It has traditionally been women who have gathered the nuts of the shea tree to produce Nilotica shea butter, prized globally for its cosmetic and culinary uses.

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