Where does “vanilla” come from?
Vanilla comes from Spanish vainilla, diminutive of vagina, a Latin word for sheath or pod, with the diminutive suffix -illa.
vanilla (English): Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus...
Definitions
- Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus...
Ancestry of “vanilla”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | vainilla | vanilla; vanilla sex; ladyfinger |
| 2 | Spanish | -illa | Added to feminine nouns to denote a diminutive... |
| 3 | Old Spanish | -iella | A diminutive suffix |
| 4 | Latin | -ella | inflection of -ellus: ## nominative/vocative... |
| 5 | Latin | -ellus | Alternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine... |
| 6 | Latin | -ulus | Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -olos | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -elos | Forms desubstantival and deadjectival diminutive nouns |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -e-lós | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |