Mayo
nounA thick, creamy condiment made from egg yolk and oil; the informal short form of mayonnaise.
How to spell mayo
4 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce mayo
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does mayo mean?
- nounA thick, creamy condiment made from egg yolk and oil; the informal short form of mayonnaise.
Mayo in a sentence
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He spread a thin layer of mayo on the sandwich bread.
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The recipe calls for a tablespoon of mayo to bind the salad.
Where does mayo come from?
Language of origin: French
Mayo is a casual shortening of mayonnaise, the cold sauce made by emulsifying egg yolk and oil. Mayonnaise itself entered English from French in the early 1800s, and its exact origin is debated. The most popular account traces it to Mahón, the chief port of the island of Menorca, captured by French forces in 1756, with the sauce supposedly named mahonnaise in honour of the victory. A rival theory links it to the Old French word moyeu, meaning the yolk of an egg, which would suit the recipe rather neatly. The clipped form mayo took hold in twentieth century American kitchens and diners, where it became the everyday name on menus and labels, and the spelling simply keeps the first syllables of the longer French word.
How the word is built
- clipped form of mayo(nnaise); the full word is mayonnaise, possibly from Mahón (a port in Menorca)
- -aise (French adjective ending)
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