VANILLA • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Vanilla

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/vənˈɪlə/ Listen

noun

Vanilla n.

(Bot.) A genus of climbing orchidaceous plants, natives of tropical America.

The long podlike capsules of Vanilla planifolia, and Vanilla claviculata, remarkable for their delicate and agreeable odor, for the volatile, odoriferous oil extracted from them; also, the flavoring extract made from the capsules, extensively used in confectionery, perfumery, etc. Note: As a medicine, vanilla is supposed to possess powers analogous to valerian, while, at the same time, it is far more grateful.

Cuban vanilla, a sweet-scented West Indian composite shrub (Eupatorium Dalea).

Vanilla bean, the long capsule of the vanilla plant.

Vanilla grass. Same as Holy grass, under Holy.

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Etymology of 'Vanilla'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Vanilla" Quotes from Famous Books

... will scent 'em with best vanilla, with tea will I temper their hides, And the Moor and the Mormon shall envy who read of the tale ...

— Departmental Ditties and Barrack Room Ballads • Rudyard Kipling

... was issued to the soldiers, and it was the custom to use tallow for lard. Tallow made good shortening if the biscuits were eaten hot, but if allowed to get cold they had a strong taste of tallow in their flavor that did not taste like the flavor of vanilla or lemon in ice cream and strawberries; and biscuits fried in tallow were something upon the principle of 'possum and sweet potatoes. Well, Pfifer had got the fat from the kidneys of two hind quarters and made a cake of tallow weighing about twenty-five ...

— "Co. Aytch" - Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment - or, A Side Show of the Big Show • Sam R. Watkins

... frequented, and it is admirably kept. The eucalyptus, the giant of the Australian forests, the Phormium tenax, the New Zealand hemp-plant, the casuarina (the pine of Madagascar), the baobab, with its trunk of prodigious size, the carambolas, the sapota, the vanilla, combined to beautify this garden, which was refreshed by streams of sparkling water. The second, upon the brow of a hill, formed of terraces rising one above the other, to which several brooklets give life ...

— Celebrated Travels and Travellers - Part III. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century • Jules Verne

... begin to get dinner, and to decorate the great table laid for sixteen. There was a turkey, of course, and a huge chicken pie as well, not to mention mince pies and squash pies and apple pies, a plum pudding and vanilla ice-cream; angel cakes and fruit cakes and chocolate cakes; coffee and cider and blackberry cordial; and after they had all eaten until they could not hold another mouthful, and had "rested up" a ...

— The Old Gray Homestead • Frances Parkinson Keyes

... Europe takes in Mexico, politically and commercially, turns upon the exportation of silver. The gold, cochineal, and vanilla are of small account. It is the silver dollars that pay for the Manchester goods, woollens, hardware, and many other things—those ubiquitous boxes of sardines a l'huile, for instance. The Mexicans send to Europe some five millions ...

— Anahuac • Edward Burnett Tylor

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