stevia

[ stee-vee-uh, stev-ee-uh ]

noun

1. a South American perennial shrub, Stevia rebaudiana, having small, white flowers and sweet-tasting leaves.
2. a noncaloric, powdered sweetener made from glycoside extracts of the leaves of this shrub.

Word History and Origins

Origin of stevia¹

1805–10; < New Latin, from the name of Petrus Jacobus Stevus (Pedro Jaime Esteve), died 1555, Spanish physician and botanist

Example Sentences

It’s enhanced with maple syrup, vanilla and stevia, along with sea moss, organic coconut cream and an organic strawberry glaze.

From Salon

Sometimes it is also combined with stevia and monk fruit sugar alternatives.

From Salon

I like to sweeten it with honey or stevia and serve it hot.

From Seattle Times

Aspartame, for example, is about 200 times sweeter than sugar and costs more than saccharin, roughly the same as sucralose and less than stevia, a sweetener industry source said.

From Reuters

Some are synthetic, others are extracted from foods such as monk fruit and the stevia plant.

From Salon