English▸ noun
1 [mass noun] a substance obtained from vanilla pods or produced artificially and used to flavour foods or to impart a fragrant scent to cosmetic preparations:
[as modifier] vanilla ice cream.
▪ ice cream flavoured with vanilla:
four scoops of vanilla with hot fudge sauce.
▪ [as modifier] of the creamy colour of vanilla ice cream:
a vanilla dress.
2 a tropical climbing orchid that has fragrant flowers and long podlike fruit.
Genus Vanilla, family Orchidaceae: many species, in particular V. planifolia, the chief commercial source of vanilla pods.
▸ adjective informal (also plain vanilla) having no special or extra features; ordinary or standard:
choosing plain vanilla technology wherever you can will save you money
the original, vanilla MP3 format is still the most commonly encountered form of the technology
they seem to be quite content in their plain vanilla domestic life
his sex life is totally vanilla.
– ORIGIN mid 17th century: from Spanish vainilla ‘pod’, diminutive of vaina ‘sheath, pod’, from Latin vagina ‘sheath’. The spelling change was due to association with French vanille.