mayonnaise

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪ.ə.neɪz/, /ˌmeɪ.əˈneɪz/
• (General American, æ-tensing) also IPA^(key): /ˈmæn.eɪz/, [ˈmɛən-]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪz

Mayonnaise

mayonnaise (countable and uncountable, plural mayonnaises)

1. A dressing made from vegetable oil, raw egg yolks and seasoning, used on salads, with french fries, in sandwiches etc.
   • 1985 May, Boys' Life, volume 75, number 5, page 20:

     There are 250 foods, including mayonnaise, cheese and cocoa, that don't list ingredients at all.

   • 1975, Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Joy of Cooking, page 7:

     The FDA's original intent for foods included under "standards of identity" ensured that terms like "mayonnaise" or "ice cream” would guarantee the same basic ingredients required in the government-established recipe no matter who manufactured it.

   • 1993, Eve Johnson, Title=Five Star Food:

     I grew up thinking that the blue and white Miracle Whip salad dressing jar in the fridge held the same substance the rest of the world knew as mayonnaise. / Now I know that mayonnaise is something entirely different.

   • 2008, Jan McCracken, The Everything Lactose Free Cookbook:

     The oils in store-bought mayonnaise range from olive oil to sunflower oil to safflower oil and some less desirable oils!

   • 2012, Marie A. Boyle, Sara Long Roth, Personal Nutrition:

     Most store-bought mayonnaise contains ingredients (vinegar, lemonjuice, and salt) that actually slow bacterial growth

2. Any cold dish with that dressing as an ingredient.

   We served a lobster mayonnaise as a starter.

3. Any cream, for example for moisturizing the face or conditioning the hair, for which the base is egg yolks and oil.

   hair mayonnaise, facial mayonnaise

   • 2016, Emma Tarlo, Entanglement: The Secret Lives of Hair, Oneworld Publications (→ISBN):

     They include cider vinegar, two pre-shampoo products, shampoo, conditioner, hair mayonnaise, oil, leave-in conditioner, end protector, revitalising styling spray and filtered water.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Rhea E. Santangelo, Grow It Girl! How I Took My Hair from Broken to Beautiful, Lulu.com (→ISBN), page 26:

     Then I implemented a lighter protein conditioner – such as hair mayonnaise, which I learned about from my cousin Renee – for the off weeks. I used this hidden gem in combination with olive oil (yes, I bought a kitchen bottle of olive oil – the same kind my grandmother used in every single delicious dish she ever cooked – strictly for use in my hair).

• mayo

• mayonnaiselike
• mayonnaisey

• majonæse

From French mayonnaise.

• IPA^(key): /majonɛːsə/, [mɑjoˈnɛːsə]

mayonnaise c (singular definite mayonnaisen, plural indefinite mayonnaiser)

1. mayonnaise

Possibly named after the city Maó, Minorca, whence the recipe was brought back to France. Alternative suggested origins include the city of Bayonne (bayonnaise); the French word manier (“to handle”); the Old French moyeu (“egg yolk”); and the Duke of Mayenne.

• IPA^(key): /ma.jɔ.nɛz/

• France

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• Quebec

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mayonnaise f (plural mayonnaises)

1. mayonnaise
2. (analogy, mechanics, familiar) milkshake (accidental emulsion of oil and water in an engine)

• Danish: mayonnaise
• English: mayonnaise
• Greek: μαγιονέζα (magionéza)

• “mayonnaise” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

mayonnaise f (plural mayonnaises)

1. Dated spelling of maionese.