Phrase guide

star anise

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A plant, Illicium verum, used primarily for its starshaped seed which resembles anise in scent and flavor, and which is used as a spice.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The starshaped seed used as a spice.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aniseed star, star aniseed

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

anise-scented star-shaped fruit or seed used in Asian cooking and medicine

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Chinese anise, star aniseed

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: spice

4

noun

Meaning 4

small shrubby tree of Japan and Taiwan; flowers are not fragrant

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Illicium anisatum

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: anise tree

5

noun

Meaning 5

small tree of China and Vietnam bearing anise-scented star-shaped fruit used in food and medicinally as a carminative

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Chinese anise, Illicium verum

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: anise tree

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

91 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: steranys — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Arabic: ليسوم حقيقي (līsūm ħaqīqi) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Arabic: ينسون نجمي (yansūn najmi) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Arabic: باديان (bādiyān) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Bashkir: баҙыян (baźıyan) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Bashkir: әнис (ənis) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Burmese: နာနတ်ပွင့် (nanatpwang.) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Catalan: badiana — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Catalan: anís estrellat — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Cebuano: anis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Cebuano: sangki — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Chinese Cantonese: 八角 (baat3 gok3) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 八角 (báik-gáe̤k) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Eastern Min Chinese: 八角香 (báik-gáe̤k-hiŏng) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Chinese: 八角 (poeh-kak / peh-kak) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Chinese: 八角香 (peh-kak-hiun / poeh-kak-hiun / peh-kak-hion) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Chinese Mandarin: 八角 (bājiǎo) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Chinese Mandarin: 八角茴香 (bājiǎohuíxiāng) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大茴香 (dàhuíxiāng) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Danish: stjerneanis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Dutch: steranijs — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Esperanto: stelanizo — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Finnish: tähtianis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • French: anis étoilé — a plant, Illicium verum
  • French: badiane chinoise — a plant, Illicium verum
  • French: étoile d'anis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • French: anis étoile — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Galician: anís estrelado — a plant, Illicium verum
  • German: Sternanis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Greek: αστεροειδής γλυκάνισος (asteroeidís glykánisos) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Hindi: चक्र फूल (cakra phūl) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Hungarian: csillagánizs — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Indonesian: bunga lawang — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Irish: réalt-ainís — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Italian: anice stellato — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Japanese: 唐樒 (tōshikimi) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Japanese: 大茴香 (daiuikyō) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Japanese: 八角茴香 (hakkaku uikyō) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Khmer: ចាន់ការី (cankaarii) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Korean: 팔각 (palgak) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Korean: 스타아니스 (seutaaniseu) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Latvian: zvaigžņainais anīss — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Latvian: anīskoks — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Malay: bunga lawang — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Malayalam: തക്കോലം (takkōlaṁ) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Māori: kopoti whetū — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Marathi: चक्रफूल (cakraphūl) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Norwegian: stjerneanis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Occitan: badiana — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Persian: بادیان (bâdiyân) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Polish: badian właściwy — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Portuguese: anis-estrelado — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Portuguese: estrela-de-anis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Romanian: anason stelat — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Romanian: badian — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Russian: звёздчатый ани́с (zvjózdčatyj anís) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Slovene: zvezdasti janež — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Spanish: anís estrellado — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Spanish: anís estrella — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Spanish: badián — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Spanish: badiana — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Swedish: stjärnanis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Tày: hoa cáp — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Thai: โป๊ยกั้ก (bpóoy gák) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Tibetan: ལི་ཤི་མཚོན་འཁོར (li shi mtshon 'khor) — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Vietnamese: đại hồi — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Vietnamese: hồi — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Vietnamese: đại hồi hương — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Welsh: coeden anis — a plant, Illicium verum
  • Arabic: ليسوم حقيقي (līsūm ħaqīqi) — the spice
  • Arabic: ينسون نجمي (yansūn najmi) — the spice
  • Arabic: باديان (bādiyān) — the spice
  • Burmese: နာနတ်ပွင့် (nanatpwang.) — the spice
  • Catalan: anís estrellat — the spice
  • Cebuano: anis — the spice
  • Cebuano: sangki — the spice
  • Greek: αστεροειδής γλυκάνισος (asteroeidís glykánisos) — the spice
  • Hungarian: csillagánizs — the spice
  • Japanese: 八角 (hakkaku) — the spice
  • Japanese: スターアニス (sta anisu) — the spice
  • Kannada: ಚಕ್ರಮೊಗ್ಗು (cakramoggu) — the spice
  • Khmer: ចាន់ការី (cankaarii) — the spice
  • Latvian: zvaigžņainais anīss — the spice
  • Māori: kopoti whetū — the spice
  • Marathi: चक्रफूल (cakraphūl) — the spice
  • Polish: anyż gwiaździsty — the spice
  • Polish: anyż gwiazdkowy — the spice
  • Polish: badian — the spice
  • Polish: badianek — the spice
  • Slovak: badián — the spice
  • Tagalog: sangke — the spice