Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An annual Mediterranean herb (Cuminum cyminum) in the parsley family, having finely divided leaves and clusters of small white or pink flowers.
- n. The seedlike fruit of this plant used for seasoning, as in curry and chili powders.
- n. Black cumin.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A fennel-like umbelliferous plant, Cuminum Cyminum. It is an annual, found wild in Egypt and Syria, and cultivated time out of mind for the sake of its fruit. See def. 2.
- n. The fruit of this plant, commonly called cumin-seed. This fruit is agreeably aromatic, and, like that of caraway, dill, anise, etc, possesses well-marked stimulating and carminative properties. It is used in India as a condiment and as a constituent of curry-powder.
- n. A name of several plants of other genera.
Wiktionary
- n. The flowering plant Cuminum cyminum, in the family Apiaceae
- n. Its aromatic long seed, used as a spice, notably in Indian and Mexican cookery.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A dwarf umbelliferous plant, somewhat resembling fennel (Cuminum Cyminum), cultivated for its seeds, which have a bitterish, warm taste, with an aromatic flavor, and are used like those of anise and caraway.
WordNet 3.0
- n. dwarf Mediterranean annual long cultivated for its aromatic seeds
- n. aromatic seeds of the cumin herb of the carrot family
Etymologies
- From Old English cymen, from Latin cuminum, from Ancient Greek κύμινον (kúminon), itself of Semitic origin; cognate with Old High German kumin, and via Semitic route related to Hebrew כמון (kammon) and Arabic كمون (kammūn). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French, from Latin cumīnum, from Greek kumīnon, probably of Semitic origin; see kmn in Semitic roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“We're not in the north where the cumin is more predominant.”
“I made this bread-machine recipe for light rye bread today, and mistakenly put in cumin seeds instead of caraway.”
“Actually cumin is what makes soutzoukakia differ from meat balls.”
“Mixed together with meat that’s beenmarinated and slow braisedin cumin and garlic, and topped with salsa that has cilantro & lime - it’s a little too much.”
“The cumin is a comfort when the warmth of the bread is lukewarm, and it can support any mezze or zakusi plate with which you may want to pair this bread, for example: argan oil and dukkah, hummus bi tahini, muhammara, or charkhlis pkhali a Georgian beetroot, coriander and walnut puree.”
“I have even made it substituting the basil for cumin, which is even better.”
“The cumin is a big flavor here, so I think toasting and grinding it fresh (with an electric spice grinder or mortar and pestle) is worthwhile.”
“In France carraway seeds are called "cumin" and coriander, carraway and cumin are all seeds of a variety of parsley.”
“Explore the seasonings used in ethnic recipes, such as cumin and chili powder in Mexican food, and coriander and turmeric in Indian.”
“Are you familiar with the spice, "cumin", called for in this recipe?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cumin’.
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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Words that sound dirty but aren't.
When you want to be pedantic AND childish.
titular, masticate, condiment, titmouse, penal, formication, social intercourse, assassination, cacophony, lucubrate, rectify, banal and 131 more...
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Words with unusual spellings or pronu...
Herein are listed words with oddball spellings and words whose pronunciation does not reflect the spelling.
eleemosynary, Wednesday, colonel, posslq, zaqqum, qwerty, cinquefoil, qibla(h), minuscule, Cholmondeley, polyphloisboian, ptisan and 67 more...
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Hummus
Ingredients, variations, folklore, things (and people) to eat it with, etc.
hommus, tahini, lemon juice, sweet paprika, hummus, celery stick, mushroom, bagel, ruzuzu, salt, olive, garlic and 41 more...
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Things that taste better than they smell
See also Things that smell better than they taste.
durian, garlic, espresso, grapes, beer, hard boiled eggs, really runny cheeses, cumin, onions, vinegar, tuna, steamed cauliflower and 7 more...
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Words in which "u" is pronounced "yu"
cute, uniform, puny, municipal, butte, fume, perfume, puke, cucumber, huge, demure, cube and 87 more...
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Spices: How Exotic!
That extra something that makes the dish pop.
white pepper, wasabi, vanilla, turmeric, tonka bean, tamarind, sumac, star anise, St. John's bread, Sichuan pepper, sesame seed, sassafras and 70 more...
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food words
weetabix, blancmange, shandy, meringue, allspice, pavlova, quiche, caster sugar, suet, moonshine, turnip, swede and 93 more...
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Groceries
strawberries, baby spinach, black beans, cinnamon, oranges, apples, fstg multigrain t..., olive oil, simply orange juice, tomato sauce, wholly guacamole, salt sense and 115 more...
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wreckingball's Words
reprehensible, problematize, crepuscular, deleterious, pestilent, strumpet, draggletail, interrobang, meretricious, systematize, schadenfreude, capricious and 443 more...
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spoon
being items relating to food, cooking and the kitchen.
spoon, fork, beef, slice, dozen, eggs, simmer, broil, salad, soup, stock, lard and 287 more...
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the gardener and apothecary's
bryony, chamomile, frond, sweet bay, laurel, monkshood, henbane, hemlock, parsley, rosemary, thyme, lady's mantle and 140 more...
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misterspee's Words
prolepsis, cumin, nacreous, lucre, obstreperous, nibble, nubbin, kenosis, frangible, aposiopesis, synecdoche, persiflage and 144 more...
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Gil Blas
Interesting words and usages from Smollett's 1749 translation of Lesage's L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane
reck, durance, rhodomontade, hangdog, trap, lustre, pin, boggle, dandle, birthday suit, colic, gripes and 238 more...
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food
food, chef, spice, salt, sugar, pumpkin, apples, fruit, vegetable, savory, soup, sauce and 280 more...
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encyclopedia gustatorica
béchamel, tart, pie, cupcake, roux, jambalaya, étouffé, succulent, plum, pomegranate, peach, apple and 300 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cumin.
bilby Cuminum cyminum. Oct 8, 2010
yarb I was little more in my senses than the disciples of Porcius Latro, who, by dint of drinking cummin, having made themselves as pale as their master, thought themselves every whit as learned; so I could scarcely refrain from fancying myself next of kin and presumptive heir to the Duke of Lerma himself.
- Lesage, The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane, tr. Smollett, bk 8 ch. 9 Oct 7, 2008