mayonnaise
Americannoun
-
mayonnaises
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mayonnaise
1835–45; < French, equivalent to mayon (perhaps variant of Mahón, town in Minorca) + -aise -ese
Compare meaning
How does mayonnaise compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Mayonnaise is the creamy white condiment you use to make tuna salad or spread on your BLT sandwich. Most mayonnaise is made from egg yolks, oil, and lemon juice. Mayonnaise is common in many foods around the world, from fancy French sauces like rémoulade to Japanese okonomiyaki. In the Netherlands and Belgium, French fries are served with mayonnaise instead of the standard American condiment, ketchup. In the U.S., mayonnaise was first sold commercially in Philadelphia in 1907, made by a local woman named Amelia Schlorer. If you've got a whisk, eggs and olive oil, and a strong arm, you can even make your own mayonnaise.
Vocabulary lists containing mayonnaise
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And it all started with mayonnaise and egg yolks in his mom’s kitchen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
On one side goes lemon mayonnaise, our acid-fat lever: rich enough to keep the turkey lush, sharp enough to wake it up.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
The practice of ranching can be traced back about 75 years to the man who had a brilliant idea to combine mayonnaise, buttermilk, herbs and spices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
It has the body and cling you want from a creamy dressing, but it doesn’t drag a dish down the way mayonnaise sometimes can.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
She didn’t realize you were supposed to wash out the mayonnaise, and in the picture that year I was peering out from under one stiff shingle of hair.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Hellmann’s mayonnaise, which celebrated its 100 birthday this year, is a pioneer among mayonnaises, a creamy, tangy conqueror of bellies, hearts, and nations.
From Slate ● Dec. 26, 2013
To this end he would whip up weird mayonnaises of wax, turps, asphaltum, eggs, resin and oil.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Luncheon Menu generally comprises soup, entrées both hot and cold; chickens, game, mayonnaises, salads, jellies, creams, etc., etc., and other dishes of a like character.
From Manners and Rules of Good Society or Solecisms to be Avoided by Anonymous
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
