¦ noun
1. a substance obtained from vanilla pods or produced artificially and used to flavour sweet foods or to impart a fragrant scent to cosmetic preparations.
2. a tropical climbing orchid with fragrant flowers and long pod-like fruit. [Vanilla planifolia and related species.]
¦ adjective informal having no special features.
Origin
C17: from Sp. vainilla 'pod', dimin. of vaina 'sheath, pod', from L. vagina 'sheath'.