vainilla

Forms

vainilla f (plural vainillas)^[1] Texts of the 16th century also spell it vaynilla and baynilla.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a diminutive from Spanish vaina (“pod, sheath”) + -illa, literally “little pod”.^[4][1][5] The aromatic plant was named after its long fruit, which is shaped like the pod of a bean.^[6][7]

vaina itself continues from Latin vagina (“sheath, scabbard”), and Spanish vagina is the learned doublet of the same Latin word, first recorded in 1817.^[8][7][9]

The Spanish word is the source of French vanille, Italian vainiglia (also vaniglia), Portuguese baunilha and English vanilla.^[8][5] Corominas dates the French word to 1688 and the English one to 1662, and notes that the Portuguese form was earlier bainilha.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is Vicente de Burgos's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus, printed in 1494, where a plant has seeds a manera de las vainillas de las lantejas “like the little pods of lentils”.^[2] Corominas, who knew no earlier record, dated the sense “small pod of a legume” to 1555.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “small pod” is the older one: Gabriel Alonso de Herrera's Obra de agricultura of 1513 uses it of seeds that jump out of their pods.^[2] From the late 16th century the word also named a kind of openwork stitching along a hem, now usually called vainica: a ballad of 1591 lists girls haciendo vainillas “doing openwork”, and the second part of the Quijote has vaynillas y labor blanca.^[2][10][8]

The aromatic American plant appears in New Spain in 1591, when Juan de Cárdenas explains that the Nahuatl tlixochil is en nuestro romance vaynillas olorosas “in our language, fragrant little pods”.^[11][3][2] Corominas places this sense in the 17th century, by which time the word had already passed into French, Italian, Portuguese and English.^[7][8] Terreros, in the 1780s, still gave the small pod, the stitching and the American fruit side by side.^[12] The Academy's 1869 edition describes the plant and its fragrant fruit, used to flavour liqueurs and chocolate, and its 1899 edition gives the derivation from vaina.^[13][14]

Regional senses include “green bean” in Asturias and La Rioja, the fruit of a broom shrub in Leonese, a sponge biscuit in the Río de la Plata and Paraguay, and a cartridge case in Chile and Paraguay.^[4][15][16] As an adjective it now also names a very pale yellow colour.^[4] English took the word as vanilla in the 1660s, first for the pod.^[17]

Timeline

• 1494 – Vicente de Burgos's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus uses vainillas for the pods of lentils.^[2]
• 1513 – Herrera's Obra de agricultura uses the word for the pods of seed crops.^[2]
• 1555 – Corominas's first date for the sense “small pod of a legume”.^[7]
• 1591 – Juan de Cárdenas, in Mexico, gives vaynillas olorosas as the Spanish name of the aromatic plant.^[11]
• 1591 – a ballad uses vainillas for openwork stitching.^[2]
• 1660s – English borrows the word as vanilla.^[17]
• 1688 – Corominas's date for French vanille.^[8]
• 1869 – the Academy's dictionary describes the American plant and its fruit.^[13]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from vaina.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. vanilla: a climbing American orchid with long green stems and pod-like fruit full of tiny seeds.^[4][1]
2. The fragrant fruit of this plant, used to flavour sweets, chocolate and liqueurs: un helado de vainilla.^[4][18]
3. An American heliotrope.^[4][18]
4. Openwork stitching along a hem (vainica).^[4]
5. (Asturias, La Rioja) A green bean.^[4]
6. (Río de la Plata, Paraguay) A soft sugared sponge biscuit, a ladyfinger.^[16][1]

Adjective

1. Of a very pale yellow colour; also as a noun for the colour.^[4]

Word family

• vainillal
• vainillina

Related words

• vaina
• vagina
• vainica
• English vanilla

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. vainilla
3. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. vainilla
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. vainilla
5. ^ a b Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. vainilla
6. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. vainilla
7. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vaina
8. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 732
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 7014
10. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. s.v. vainilla
11. ^ a b Grupo IATEXT, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, AMERLEX: corpus of americanisms in early texts on the Americas (online database), p. s.v. vainilla
12. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 750
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 778
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 1001
15. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. vainilla
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. vainilla
17. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
18. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vainilla