SG Heritage Dictionary

Anise [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1828

1. an'nis. [Latin anisum; Gr.]

2. An annual plant, placed by Linne under the genus Pimpinella. It grows naturally in Egypt, and is cultivated in Spain and Malta, whence the seeds are imported. The stalk rises a foot and a half high, dividing into slender branches, garnished with narrow leaves, cut into three or four narrow segments. The branches terminate in large loose umbels, composed of smaller umbels or rays, on long footstalks. The flowers are small and of a yellowish white; the seeds oblong and swelling. anise seeds have an aromatic smell, and a pleasant warm taste; they are useful in warming the stomach and expelling wind.

3. The seed of anise

Anise [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

1. An umbelliferous plant (Pimpinella anisum) growing naturally in Egypt, and cultivated in Spain, Malta, etc., for its carminative and aromatic seeds.

2. The fruit or seeds of this plant.

Anise Encyclopedia Britannica

ANISE, Pimpinella Anisum, is an umbelliferous plant found in Egypt and the Levant, and cultivated on the Continent of Europe. It is used medicinally as an agreeable aromatic. The officinal part of the plant is the fruit, which consists of two united carpels, called a cremocarp. It is known by the name of aniseed, and has a strong aromatic taste and a powerful odour. By distillation the fruit yields a volatile, oily matter known as oil of anise. It is used as a carminative, and is also employed in the manufacture of liqueurs. The anise of the Bible (Matt, xxiii. 23) is Anethum graveolens, or dill (see fig.), a native of the south of Europe and of Egypt, and also found near Astracan, at Buenos Ayres, and at the Cape of Good Hope. The name Dill is derived from an old Norse word meaning to soothe, referring to its carminative qualities in allaying pain. It is one of the garden plants of which the Pharisees were wont to pay tithes. It is used in pickles and soups. The staranise of liqueurmakers is the produce of a totally different plant, Illicium anisatum, belonging to the Natural Order Mag-noliaceae, sub-order Wintereae. It receives its name from its flavour, and from its fruit spreading out like a star.

9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2, p. 57
[217 words — estimated reading time: 2 minutes]

Anise Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

an annual umbeliferous plant, the seeds of which have an aromatic smell, a pleasant warm taste, and a carminative quality. But by ἄνηθον, Matt. xxiii, 23, the _dill_ is meant. Our translators seem to have been first misled by a resemblance of the sound. No other versions have fallen into the mistake. The Greek of _anise_ is ἄνισον; but of _dill_, ἄνηθον.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
[62 words — estimated reading time: 1 minute]

Aniseed [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

The seed of the anise; also, a cordial prepared from it.

Anisette [Noun] Webster's Dictionary 1913

A French cordial or liqueur flavored with anise seeds.