Vanilla
/vəˈnɪl.ə/noun
The dried aromatic seed pod of a tropical orchid, or its flavoring extracted from it.
Did you know?The word comes from Spanish vainilla, literally “little pod,” a diminutive of vaina (“sheath” or “pod”), because the orchid’s fruit looks like a tiny enclosed case.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Roman
Latin
vagina
“a sheath or scabbard for a sword”
Latin
Latin
vāgīna
“a sheath, scabbard, or covering”
Medieval Spanish
Spanish
vainilla
“little sheath/pod; the vanilla orchid pod”
16th Century
Spanish
vainilla
“the aromatic pod of the vanilla orchid, first encountered in the Americas”
17th Century
French
vanille
“vanilla, the spice and flavoring”
Modern English
English
vanilla
“the flavoring from the vanilla orchid, and by extension something plain or standard”