Definition of "annatto" []

• A tropical American evergreen shrub or small tree (Bixa orellana), having heart-shaped leaves and showy, rose-pink or sometimes white flowers. Also called lipstick tree. (noun)
• The seed of this plant, used as a coloring and sometimes as a flavoring, especially in Latin American cuisine. (noun)
• A yellowish-red dyestuff obtained from the seed aril of this plant, used especially to dye fabric and to color food products such as margarine and cheese. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Best known as annatto, it's an inexpensive food coloring, grown commercially around the world, that gives products like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese an orange hue."
• "John Lyons/The Wall Street Journal Images of Yawanawá Indians in grass skirts can help Aveda sell its popular Uruku line of lipsticks, eye shadows and facial bronzers, which use urukum, more commonly known as annatto, for body paint."
• "Today, these seeds are used as a dye called annatto that colors everything from butter to salad oils."