vanilla English · revision 16132

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1662, Stubbe, Indian Nectar|origins=la vāgīna}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vəˈnɪl.ə/, /vəˈnɛl.ə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|vaynilla]], the older spelling of [[m|es|vainilla|t=little pod]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) later reinforced by the botanical name [[la-new|Vanilla]].^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Spanish ''vainilla'' is a diminutive of [[m|es|vaina|t=sheath, pod]],^(AHD 2024)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) from [[la|vāgīna|t=sheath]],^(AHD 2024)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source of ''[[vagina]]''; the pods were named for their sheath-like shape.^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005) The English spelling was assimilated to [[fr|vanille]].^(ODE 2010)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The pod of the plant: 1662, in Henry Stubbe's ''Indian Nectar'', a work on chocolate.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) The spelling ''vanilla'' appears in 1673.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Europeans first met it in 1521, when Cortés's soldiers found it in south-eastern Mexico.^(Etymonline) The name passed from the pod to the climbing [[orchid]] that bears it (1698)^(OED 2026) and to the aromatic flavouring made from it (1728), although the pod was already used for flavouring in 1662.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Because vanilla ice cream was considered the plainest flavour, ''vanilla'' came to mean plain or conventional,^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) first recorded in 1972 for sexually conventional people,^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) and then for basic versions of products, especially computers and software.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) ''Plain vanilla'' in a figurative sense goes back to the 1940s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1662 – the pod, ''vaynilla''.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1698 – the plant.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1728 – the flavouring.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1874 – ''vanilla bean''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1955 – a vanilla ice cream.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1972 – plain, conventional.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A tropical American climbing [[orchid]] of the genus ''Vanilla'', or its long pod-like fruit.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[flavouring]] made from the cured pods or produced synthetically.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Flavoured with vanilla.^(AHD 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # ''(informal)'' Plain, ordinary, without special features.^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vanillic]]

+ * [[vanilla bean]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vanillin]]

+ * [[vagina]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}