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mayonnaise

UK/ˈmeɪ.ə.neɪz/US/ˌmeɪ.əˈneɪz/
nounA2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #5,590 of 15,258leans spoken

Mayonnaise is the thick white creamy sauce made of egg and oil. A spoonful of mayonnaise, homemade mayonnaise, mayonnaise and chips.

It is an emulsion: oil is beaten into egg yolk in droplets so small they cannot join up again, and adding the oil too fast is what makes it split. The name may come from Mahon in Minorca, from where the recipe is said to have reached France.

jules · CC BY 2.0

Definitions of mayonnaise

  1. 1nounmayonnaiseA thick sauce of egg yolk and oil.A2+

    “He spread mayonnaise on the bread before adding the chicken.”

    • Said"Go easy on the mayonnaise; I still want to taste the chicken."
    • WrittenThe mayonnaise had split, and the prawns sat in a thin oily pool.
    • UsedStir a spoonful of mayonnaise into cold potatoes with chopped chives.
    • ContrastMayonnaise, not butter. Butter is spread on bread; mayonnaise is stirred into things and dolloped beside them. butter →
    • Not thisSalad cream is not mayonnaise, whatever your grandmother called it. Mayonnaise is yolk and oil, thick and pale.
    • Exchange"Is there mayonnaise in this?""Loads. That's why it's good."

    Patterna jar / spoonful / dollop of mayonnaise · garlic mayonnaise · with / in mayonnaise · mayo

mayonnaise is a sauce.

Also accepted in games: mayo

Remember it

MAYOnnaise → MAYO for short

Everyone just says mayo: the thick white sauce of egg and oil on a sandwich. Two n's in the middle, holding it together.

Where it comes from

Possibly from Mahon in Minorca, whence the recipe is said to have been brought to France. Other origins have been proposed.

  1. French

    mayonnaise

  2. English, today

    mayonnaise

French mayonnaise, possibly named after the city of Maó (Mahón in Spanish -), Minorca, whence the recipe was brought back to France. Compare Spanish mahonesa. Alternative suggested origins include the city of Bayonne (bayonnaise); the Duke of Mayenne and the words manier (“to handle”) in French or moyeu (“eye yolk”) in Old French.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in In the Kitchen

Practise this word

mayonnaise in the wild

  • Sour cream and yogurt are sometimes used in addition to, or as a substitute for, buttermilk and mayonnaise.

    Ranch dressing

  • Some popular variations include adding red cabbage, pepper, shredded carrots, onions, grated cheese, pineapple, pears, or apples, and using dressings like mayonnaise or cream.

    Coleslaw

  • Both brands were previously sold by the U.S.-based Bestfoods Corporation, which also sold several other food products in addition to Hellmann's and Best Foods mayonnaise.

    Hellmann's and Best Foods

  • A simpler version can be made by merely mixing tomato ketchup with mayonnaise.

    Marie Rose sauce

  • Kewpie (English: KYOO-pee) is a Japanese brand of mayonnaise produced by the Kewpie Corporation.

    Kewpie (mayonnaise)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.