Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A tropical American evergreen shrub or small tree (Bixa orellana), having heart-shaped leaves and showy, rose-pink or sometimes white flowers. Also called lipstick tree.
- n. The seed of this plant, used as a coloring and sometimes as a flavoring, especially in Latin American cuisine.
- n. A yellowish-red dyestuff obtained from the seed aril of this plant, used especially to dye fabric and to color food products such as margarine and cheese.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Same as arnotto.
Wiktionary
Etymologies
- Of Cariban origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Best known as annatto, it's an inexpensive food coloring, grown commercially around the world, that gives products like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese an orange hue.”
“John Lyons/The Wall Street Journal Images of Yawanawá Indians in grass skirts can help Aveda sell its popular Uruku line of lipsticks, eye shadows and facial bronzers, which use urukum, more commonly known as annatto, for body paint.”
The Wall Street Journal: Aveda's Skin-Deep Alliance in Brazil
“Today, these seeds are used as a dye called annatto that colors everything from butter to salad oils.”
“You can also check product ingredient lists for beet, carotenes, annatto, capsanthin (a paprika extract) -- as all are natural colorants.”
The Huffington Post: EatingWell: Trick or Treat: The Hidden Health Risks of Food Dyes
“However, as consumers show a growing preference for natural foods and for foods free of colorings, companies respond by omitting colors or switching to safe, natural colorings, such as beta-carotene, turmeric, paprika, beet juice, and annatto.”
The Huffington Post: Maria Rodale: What's All This Food Coloring Good For?
“Substitutes: ground turmeric OR saffron (much more expensive, and more flavorful) OR Steep annatto seeds in boiling water for 20 minutes, then discard the seeds.foodsubs. com”
“The Menu Dictionary in the 2009 Restaurant Guide tells us pescado is fish and achiote is traditional seasoning paste made from red annatto seeds (known as achioite) ground with lime juice and other spices ….”
John Keeling's 2009 Restaurant Guide (Chapala, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta)
“Pork is wrapped in banana leaves, seasoned with ground annatto seeds or achiote, and roasted overnight in an underground oven, called a pib.”
“An Aveda spokesman says the goal of the annatto project has always been sustainability and sharing the benefits.”
“In 2008, new "Uruku" line cardboard packaging had Yawanawá designs and a claim that the tribe harvests annatto "for use in our makeup.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘annatto’.
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250 Further Spelling Words
Another compilation of spelling words suitable for intermediate to advanced spellers.
venturi, aesir, affenpinscher, rottweiler, amanuensis, balletomane, hansard, sangfroid, yukata, capriccio, cuisse, heriot and 237 more...
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Recently viewed
A random list of things people are looking up on Wordnik.
craftsperson, bobble-head, kiwi and emu brot..., st. isidore the f..., cloudlessness, sangwidges, omnes Una Manet nox, Chappie, Inca dove, ew, C'mere, skepticism and 966 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Sweet Smoke of Rhetoric
The ones with which I flavor my speech, and the ones I love to find peppered in literature.
perspicacious, acerbic, vituperation, loquacious, castigate, vitriolic, scintillating, provenance, frolic, attendant, pursuant, epistemology and 313 more...
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Dyes & Pigments
gamboge, anil, catechu, cinnabar, vermilion, ponceau, cochineal, kermes, lac, eosin, azure, indigo and 134 more...
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Chromonyms
These chromonyms are defined as colors in at least one dictionary (mostly MW3). (Actually there's one fake, for reasons I'll explain someday.) They are all one-word nouns such as "kelly", which can...
absinthe, acacia, acorn, alabaster, alesan, almond, aloma, amaranth, amber, amethyst, anemone, anil and 821 more...
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Herbs and Spices
With the odd seasoning that isn't strictly an herb or spice.
wasabi, vanilla, turmeric, thyme, tarragon, sumac, star anise, shallot, sesame, savory, salt, sage and 62 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for annatto.
chained_bear Seeds used in South American and Caribbean cooking. Feb 5, 2007