vanille
/va.nij/feminine
The French word for vanilla is vanille.
When you want to describe a food item as being vanilla-flavored, such as ice cream, you should use the construction à la vanille.
Meaning: flavor (noun)
Which one should you use?
To specify the actual vanilla bean, use the term la gousse de vanille.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun vanille is feminine.
How do you pronounce it?
/va.nij/
Did you know?
- While English uses 'vanilla' to describe something plain or unexciting, calling a person or a project vanille in French would not convey that sense of boredom.
- France's overseas territory of Réunion is one of the world's top producers of vanille, often marketed as 'Bourbon vanilla'.
- The French word vanille was borrowed from the Spanish word 'vainilla', which is a diminutive of 'vaina' meaning 'pod'.
Examples in context
- Ajoutez l'extrait de vanille.Add the vanilla extract.This sentence is useful for learning how to use the word vanille when referring to an extract.Tatoeba #5776427 by Thomz, translation #5776204 by Hybrid
- J'adore la glace à la vanille.I like vanilla ice cream very much.This sentence shows how to use à la vanille to describe vanilla ice cream.Tatoeba #949895 by sacredceltic, translation #874015 by papabear
- Je mange une glace à la vanille.I'm eating vanilla ice cream.This sentence provides another example of using à la vanille to describe a flavored food item.Tatoeba #7851474 by theachaean, translation #13885723 by tieguy
- Des glaces à la vanille, s'il vous plaîtVanilla ice creams, please
- 9 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa and Nathan are at a bakery.
- LéaEst-ce qu'il y a de la vanille ici ?Is there any vanilla here?
- NathanOui, nous avons des gâteaux à la vanille.Yes, we have vanilla cakes.
- LéaC'est parfait, j'adore la vanille.That's perfect, I love vanilla.
- NathanPrends-en un, Léa, c'est délicieux.Have one, Léa, it's delicious.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “vanilla” translations and entries vanille, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries vanille, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
