Anise

Anise - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

This word is found only in Matt. 23:23. It is the plant commonly known by the name of dill, the Peucedanum graveolens of the botanist. This name dill is derived from a Norse word which means to soothe, the plant having the carminative property of allaying pain. The common dill, the Anethum graveolens, is an annual growing wild in the cornfields of Spain and Portugal and the south of Europe generally. There is also a species of dill cultivated in Eastern countries known by the name of shubit. It was this species of garden plant of which the Pharisees were in the habit of paying tithes. The Talmud requires that the seeds, leaves, and stem of dill shall pay tithes. It is an umbelliferous plant, very like the caraway, its leaves, which are aromatic, being used in soups and pickles. The proper anise is the Pimpinella anisum.

Anise - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

AN'ISE, n. an'nis. [L. anisum; Gr.]

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.

AN'ISE SEED, n. The seed of anise.