mayonnaise
/ˌmeɪ.əˈneɪz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A dressing made from vegetable oil, raw egg yolks, vinegar or lemon juice, and seasoning, used on salads, with French fries, in sandwiches, etc.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Any cream, for example for moisturizing the face or conditioning the hair, for which the base is egg yolks and oil.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
In full Mayonnaise sauce or sauce Mayonnaise: alternative letter-case form of mayonnaise.
Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "There are 250 foods, including mayonnaise, cheese and cocoa, that don't list ingredients at all."
- "The FDA's original intent for foods included under "standards of identity" ensured that terms like "mayonnaise" or "ice cream” would guarantee the same basic ingredients required in the government-established recipe no matter who manufactured it."
- "I grew up thinking that the blue and white Miracle Whip salad dressing jar in the fridge held the same substance the rest of the world knew as mayonnaise. / Now I know that mayonnaise is something entirely different."
- "The oils in store-bought mayonnaise range from olive oil to sunflower oil to safflower oil and some less desirable oils!"
- "Most store-bought mayonnaise contains ingredients (vinegar, lemonjuice, and salt) that actually slow bacterial growth"
- "We served a lobster mayonnaise as a starter."
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French mayonnaise, possibly named after the city of Maó (Mahón in Spanish), Minorca, whence the recipe was brought back to France. Compare Spanish mahonesa. Alternative suggested origins include the city of Bayonne (bayonnaise); the Duke of Mayenne and the words manier (“to handle”) in French or moyeu (“eye yolk”) in Old French.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌmeɪ.əˈneɪz/
- British English: /ˈmeɪ.ə.neɪz/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.