vanilla

[ vuh-nil-uhor, often, -nel-uh ]

noun

1. any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla, especially V. planifolia, bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food, in perfumery, etc.
2. Also called vanilla bean. the fruit or bean of this orchid.
3. the extract of this fruit.

adjective

1. containing or flavored with vanilla:

   vanilla custard.

2. Informal. plain vanilla.

vanilla

/ vəˈnɪlə /

noun

1. any tropical climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla, esp V. plonifolia, having spikes of large fragrant greenish-yellow flowers and long fleshy pods containing the seeds (beans)
2. the pod or bean of certain of these plants, used to flavour food, etc
3. a flavouring extract prepared from vanilla beans and used in cooking

adjective

1. flavoured with or as if with vanilla

   vanilla ice cream

2. slang.
   ordinary or conventional

   a vanilla kind of guy

Word History and Origins

Origin of vanilla¹

1655–65; < New Latin < Spanish vainilla little pod, equivalent to vain ( a ) a sheath (< Latin vāgīna sheath) + -illa diminutive suffix (< LL)

Word History and Origins

Origin of vanilla¹

C17: from New Latin, from Spanish vainilla pod, from vaina a sheath, from Latin vāgīna sheath

Example Sentences

However, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner said it’s actually a “McDonald’s Big Mac, Filet-o-Fish, fries and a vanilla shake.”

From Salon

Leruth began his career as a food chemist and over the course of his life never stopped perfecting his one-of-a-kind and highly regarded vanilla extract.

From Salon

Other new menu items include Starbuck’s Gingerbread Cream Cold Foam, a blend of gingerbread flavors with vanilla sweet cream; Turkey Sage Danish, a savory pastry filled with turkey sausage and bechamel sauce; Dark Toffee Bundt, a personal-sized, toffee-flavored Bundt cake; Penguin Cookie, a shortbread cookie iced with a penguin design; and Snowman Cake Pop, a vanilla-flavored cake mixed with buttercream and dipped in a white chocolate icing.

From Salon

That is very clear to me now, “Oh, they are saying this very vanilla thing, but that is a signal to this country to knock it off.”

From Los Angeles Times

Michelin-starred chef Adam Handling has been using foraged meadowsweet, which he uses to replace vanilla, since he opened his restaurant The Frog in east London in 2016.

From BBC