Dictionary

shea butter en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [ˈʃeɪ̯ ˌbʌɾɚ] (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈʃeɪ ˌbʌtɚ/ (General-American)

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) A slightly yellowish or ivory-colored natural fat extracted from fruit of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) by crushing and boiling, widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer and an emollient, as a cooking oil in West Africa, and sometimes used in the chocolate industry as a substitute for cocoa butter.
   • About two o'clock in the afternoon, a sort of hasty pudding, with a little Shea butter, is the common meal; but the supper constitutes the principal repast, and is seldom ready before midnight. 1799, Mungo Park, chapter XXI, in Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, page 279:
   • Shea butter is sold by hundreds of small firms who package and reformulate the butter under their own labels, purporting to by-pass the depersonalizing tendencies of mass-production and mass-marketing. […] 2004, Brenda Chalfin, Shea Butter Republic, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 179:

Forms

Deriveds

shea butter tree

Translations (40)

fr beurre de karité (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · ja シアバター (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · ncu kidembrawee (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · bm situlu (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · tuz nɔ̃mplaw (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · gur kaam (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · sxw limi (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · cmn 乳木果油 (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · it burro di karitè (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · hu sheavaj (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · pt manteiga de karité/carité (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · mql hoòmɔ́tídè (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · dyu situlu (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · kbp num kɩbam (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · fi karitevoi (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · gux sànkpènààli (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · es manteca de karité (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · hu karitévaj (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · cme nampilaŋo (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · ajg yɔkumi (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · dyi sinvunwɛ (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · mos ka-moaaga (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · sv sheasmör (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · dag kpakahili (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · bwu kpaam (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · mql caǹwùòmɛ̀ (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · cmn 牛油脂 (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · cmn 乳油木果油 (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · cmn 牛油樹脂 /牛油树脂 (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · ife òrí (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · dyi logolo sinmɛ (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · ru масло ши (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · cmn 牛油果精華 /牛油果精华 (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · nb sheasmør (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · de Sheabutter (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · cmn 牛油果樹果脂 /牛油果树果脂 (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · bib kurɲɔn (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · gux kpanaali (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · gux sánkpàma (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree) · ru масло карите (fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree)