Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

vanilla

/vəˈnɪl.ə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.84 in modern English

Syllables
vanil-la
IPA
/vəˈnɪl.ə/
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any tropical climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.

Countable

noun

The fruit or bean of the vanilla plant.

Countable

noun

The extract of the fruit of the vanilla plant.

Uncountable

noun

The distinctive fragrant flavour/flavor characteristic of vanilla extract.

Uncountable

noun

Any artificially produced homologue of vanilla extract, principally vanillin produced from lignin from the paper industry or from petrochemicals.

Uncountable

noun

Someone who is not into fetishism.

Countable; Slang

noun

An unmodded version of a game.

Slang; Uncountable

noun

A yellowish-white colour, like that of vanilla ice cream.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wāgīnā Latin vāgīna Old Spanish vayna Spanish vaina Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin -ellus Latin -ella Old Spanish -iella Spanish -illa Spanish vainillabor. English vanilla Borrowed from Spanish vainilla, a diminutive form of vaina (“pod”). "Plain" senses derive from the perceived plainness of vanilla ice cream.

Usage

Inflected Forms

vanillas (plural) vanille (alternative, archaic) nilla (alternative, clipping) more vanilla (comparative) most vanilla (superlative)

Derived Forms

banilla nonvanilla vanillaed vanillafied vanillafy vanillalike vanillaness vanillar vanillatte vanillery vanillic vanillism

Phrases

Cuban vanilla imitation vanilla plain vanilla vanilla bean vanilla essence vanilla extract vanilla grass vanilla leaf

Frequently Paired Words

flavour extract vanillin jellybean

Synonyms

vanilla bean vanilla extract imitation vanilla stock normophilic vanillar

Rhymes With

villa manila gorilla guerrilla godzilla camilla sevilla priscilla padilla guerilla attila flotilla

Questions

How do you pronounce vanilla?
The recorded pronunciation is /vəˈnɪl.ə/.
What does vanilla mean?
Any tropical climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.
Where does vanilla come from?
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wāgīnā Latin vāgīna Old Spanish vayna Spanish vaina Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin -ellus Latin -ella Old Spanish -iella Spanish -illa Spanish vainillabor. English vanilla Borrowed from Spanish vainilla, a diminutive form of vaina (“pod”). "Plain" senses derive from the perceived plainness of vanilla ice cream.

How to pronounce vanilla

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “vanilla”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/vəˈnɪl.ə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “vanilla”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “vanilla” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.