mayonnaise
/meɪəˈneɪz
/noun [mass noun]
1A thick creamy dressing consisting of egg yolks beaten with oil and vinegar and seasoned: spread each slice thinly with mayonnaise [count noun]: mayonnaises and salad dressings are usually on the no-go list for slimmers...
- Emulsions have been chosen because they are daily present in kitchens, being the base of many different sauces and mayonnaises, salad dressings, ice creams, shakes, etc.
- You can now squeeze your way out of the sandwich doldrums, thanks to a new crop of smear-on flavored light mayonnaises.
- Gradually add canola oil while whisking to form a thick and creamy mayonnaise.
1.1 [with modifier] British A mixture of mayonnaise and a specified ingredient: egg mayonnaise...
- Thickly spread the egg mayonnaise mixture onto the buttered bread and sprinkle with the cress.
- Oh well, I suppose an egg mayonnaise sandwich fills the gap a little.
- If this takes off one day I might even discover an egg mayonnaise sandwich for sale without bloody pond weed cress.
Origin
French, probably from the feminine of mahonnais 'of or from Port Mahon', the capital of Minorca.
Most books say that mayonnaise comes via French mahonnais from Port Mahon, the capital of Minorca, which was taken by the French in 1756. The first reference to mayonnaise anywhere is not found until 1804, though, when the success was hardly fresh in the French mind, and the spelling was with -y- rather than -h- from the beginning. The chef M. A. Carême (1784–1833), explained the word as from French manier ‘to handle’ referring to the method of preparation. It could also be a corruption of French bayonnaise, meaning ‘from the town of Bayonne’.