/ vəˈnɪlə; NAmE / noun , adjective
■ noun
[ U ] a substance obtained from the beans of a tropical plant, also called vanilla, used to give flavour to sweet foods, for example ice cream :
( BrE )
vanilla essence
( NAmE )
vanilla extract
( BrE )
a vanilla pod
( NAmE )
a vanilla bean
■ adjective
1.
flavoured with vanilla :
vanilla ice cream
2.
( informal , especially NAmE ) ordinary; not special in any way :
The city is pretty much plain vanilla.
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 17th cent.: from Spanish vainilla pod, diminutive of vaina sheath, pod, from Latin vagina sheath. The spelling change was due to association with French vanille .