Meanings
plural shea butters
- uncountableusuallyA 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 2791 more example
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
Synonyms & antonyms
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 乳木果油, 乳油木果油
- 乳木果油 (rǔmùguǒyóu)fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
- 乳油木果油 (rǔyóumùguǒyóu)fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
- 牛油樹脂 /牛油树脂 (niúyóu shùzhī)fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
- 牛油果精華 /牛油果精华 (niúyóuguǒ jīnghuá)fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
- 牛油果樹果脂 /牛油果树果脂 (niúyóuguǒshùguǒzhī)fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
- 牛油脂 (niúyóuzhī)fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Finnish karitevoi
- karitevoifat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
French beurre de karité
- beurre de karitéfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
German Sheabutter
- Sheabutterfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Hungarian sheavaj, karitévaj
- sheavajfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
- karitévajfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Italian burro di karitè
- burro di karitèfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Japanese シアバター
- シアバターfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Norwegian Bokmål sheasmør
- sheasmørfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Portuguese manteiga de karité/carité
- manteiga de karité/caritéfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Russian масло ши, масло карите
- масло ши (maslo ši)fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
- масло карите (maslo karite)fat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Spanish manteca de karité
- manteca de karitéfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Swedish sheasmör
- sheasmörfat extracted from the fruit of the shea tree
Cite this entry
shea butter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shea%20butter
“shea butter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shea%20butter. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shea butter,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shea%20butter.
Source: shea butter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.