any of numerous climbing plants of the genus Vanilla having fleshy leaves and clusters of large waxy highly fragrant white or green or topaz flowers
"The botanist studied vanilla, observing how its delicate white and green flowers emerged in fragrant clusters among the fleshy leaves."
a flavoring prepared from vanilla beans macerated in alcohol (or imitating vanilla beans)
"The chef added a spoonful of pure vanilla to the cake batter, ensuring it had that rich flavor derived from beans steeped in spirit."
a distinctive fragrant flavor characteristic of vanilla beans
"The ice cream has a pure, creamy texture and a distinctive fragrant flavor characteristic of vanilla beans."
Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.
"The gardener carefully harvested ripe vanilla pods from the climbing orchids growing along his trellis to make natural extracts for baking and perfume."
In plain English: Vanilla is a sweet, creamy flavor that comes from vanilla beans and is often used as a basic taste for ice cream or desserts.
"She decided on vanilla for her ice cream because she loves that classic flavor."
Usage: The word vanilla refers to both the fragrant orchid plant and its aromatic seed pods. Use it as a noun when describing the spice itself or the specific flower, rather than using it as an adjective before other nouns like "flavor."
plain and without any extras or adornments
"the most common type of bond is the straight or plain vanilla bond"
"the basic car is known as the vanilla version"
Of vanilla.
"She added a spoonful of pure vanilla to her cake batter."
The word entered English as a borrowing from Spanish vainilla, which is a small version of vain meaning pod. The sense referring to something plain or unadorned developed later, likely because people associated the flavor with simple vanilla ice cream.