five-spice powder

noun

A ground mixture of five varieties of spice used in Chinese, East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine. One common mixture contains star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds.

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Meanings

nounfive-spice powder (usually uncountable, plural five-spice powders)

plural five-spice powders

  1. uncountableusuallyA ground mixture of five varieties of spice used in Chinese, East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine. One common mixture contains star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
five-spice

Origin

Calque from Chinese 五香粉 (wǔxiāngfěn).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan cinc espècies, pols de cinc espècies
  • cinc espèciesground mixture
  • pols de cinc espèciesground mixture
Chinese Mandarin 五香粉
  • 五香粉 (wǔxiāngfěn)ground mixture
Finnish viismauste
  • viismausteground mixture
Greek μείγμα πέντε μπαχαρικών
  • μείγμα πέντε μπαχαρικών (meígma pénte bacharikón)ground mixture
Japanese 五香粉, 五香粉
  • 五香粉 (gokōfun)ground mixture
  • 五香粉 (ūshanfen)ground mixture
  • 五香粉 (ūshanfun)ground mixture
Korean 오향분
  • 오향분 (ohyangbun)ground mixture
Vietnamese bột ngũ vị hương, ngũ vị hương
  • bột ngũ vị hươngground mixture
  • ngũ vị hươngground mixture
Cite this entry
APA

five-spice powder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/five-spice%20powder

MLA

“five-spice powder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/five-spice%20powder. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “five-spice powder,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/five-spice%20powder.

Source: five-spice powder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.