banana
pronunciation
How to pronounce banana in British English:
UK [bəˈnɑːnə]
How to pronounce banana in American English:
US [bəˈnænə]
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- Noun:
- 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
- elongated crescent-shaped yellow fruit with soft sweet flesh
Word Origin
- banana
- banana: [16] Banana comes from a West African language – possibly Wolof, a language of the Niger-Congo family, spoken in Senegal and the Gambia. The original European discoverers of the word – and the fruit – were the Spanish and Portuguese, who passed them on to England. The term bananas ‘mad’ is 20th-century, but its origins are obscure; some have compared banana oil, a 20th-century slang term for ‘mad talk, nonsense’.
- banana (n.)
- 1590s, borrowed by Spanish or Portuguese from a West African word, possibly Wolof banana. The plant was introduced to the New World from Africa in 1516. Top banana, second banana, etc. are 1950s, from show business slang use of banana for "comedian, especially in a burlesque show." Banana split first attested 1920. Banana oil "nonsense" is slang from c. 1910.
Example
- 1. One of hollywood 's vixens was once a banana .
- 2. That and our banana splits .
- 3. The picture above is banana with cow organs .
- 4. Is nationalisation not already the big financial banana ?
- 5. Banana and tomato exports collapsed long ago .