Link Centre Dictionary

banana

ba·nana

UK/bə.næ.nə/ US/bə.nɑː.nə/ common informal slang uk us

noun

1.

any of several tropical and subtropical treelike herbs of the genus Musa having a terminal crown of large entire leaves and usually bearing hanging clusters of elongated fruits

Synonyms
2.

Origin

Borrowed from Portuguese banana or Spanish banana, derived from a Niger-Congo language spoken in the Guinea region. Specific derivation is unclear. Possible ancestor or cognate languages include Wolof banaana, Eastern Maninkakan banana, and Vai ꕒꘌꕯ (ɓaana) or ꕒꕌꕯ (ɓaana), possibly from Arabic بَنَان (banān, “fingertip, banana”). However, Ay Baati Wolof (Munro & Gaye, 1997) posits that Wolof banaana is itself derived from Portuguese banana. The racial slur derives from the notion that they are “Yellow (East-Asian) on the outside, but White (Westernized) on the inside”.

Phrases

  • Abyssinian banana
  • apple banana
  • banana bag
  • banana ball
  • banana belt
  • banana bender
  • banana bird
  • banana boa

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.