Cumin
//ˈkjuːmɪn// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The flowering plant Cuminum cyminum, in the family Apiaceae. uncountable, usually
"Cumin is native to the region from the eastern Mediterranean to India."
- 2 aromatic seeds of the cumin herb of the carrot family wordnet
- 3 Its aromatic long seed, used as a spice, notably in Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mexican cookery. uncountable, usually
"Cumin was often an ingredient of such love potions since it produced the effect of retention in whoever ate it."
- 4 dwarf Mediterranean annual long cultivated for its aromatic seeds wordnet
Example
More examples"If you just put a little bit of cumin on the kebab, it'll be really delicious."
Etymology
From Middle English comyn, from Old English cymen (which is cognate with Old High German kumin) and Old French cummin, both from Latin cuminum, from Ancient Greek κύμινον (kúminon), a Semitic borrowing ultimately to be traced to Akkadian 𒂵𒈬𒉡 (Ú.GAMUN /kamūnu/, “cumin”). Possibly related to caraway.
Related phrases
More for "cumin"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.