vanilla

Where does the word "vanilla" come from? It comes from Spanish vaina, passing through Spanish before entering English (1600s).

Vanilla’s story begins in Spanish: vaina meant “pod, sheath.” Meaning "sheath" or "pod", from Latin vagina. Within Spanish, it grew into vainilla by 1500s-1600s. A diminutive describing the slender seed pod. It reached English by 1600s as vanilla. Spanish 'little pod'; the Aztecs flavoured chocolate with it, and Edmond Albius's 1841 hand-pollination method made cultivation possible outside Mexico. Today, vanilla means a flavoring derived from the pods of a tropical orchid.

1. Stage 1 · Spanish · medieval vaina "pod, sheath", meaning "sheath" or "pod", from Latin vagina.
2. Stage 2 · Spanish · 1500s-1600s vainilla "little pod", a diminutive describing the slender seed pod.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1600s vanilla "the vanilla flavoring", Spanish 'little pod'; the Aztecs flavoured chocolate with it, and Edmond Albius's 1841 hand-pollination method made cultivation possible outside Mexico.