Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several treelike Asian herbs of the genus Musa, especially M. acuminata, having a terminal crown of large, entire leaves and a hanging cluster of fruits.
- n. The elongated, edible fruit of these plants, having a thick yellowish to reddish skin and white, aromatic, seedless pulp.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An endogenous plant of the genus Musa, M. sapientum, now cultivated for its fruit everywhere in the tropics. The stem-like trunk, formed of the compact sheathing leafstalks, grows to a height usually of 8 or 10 feet, bearing its oblong fruit in a dense cluster 2 or 3 feet long and sometimes weighing 70 or 80 pounds. The fruit is soft, sweetish, not highly flavored, and without seeds. It is eaten either raw or cooked. Several varieties are cultivated, differing in size, color, and flavor. After fruiting the stem decays, or is cut down, and new shoots spring from the root and produce a new crop in a few months. The fiber of the stem and leaves is of little value. The plantain, M. paradisiaca, is probably only a variety of the same species. See
Musa and plantain. - n. The papaw.
- n. Also called false banana.
Wiktionary
- n. An elongated curved fruit, which grows in bunches, and has a sweet creamy flesh and a smooth yellow skin.
- n. The tropical treelike plant which bears clusters of bananas. The plant, of the genus Musa, has large, elongated leaves and is related to the plantain.
- n. uncountable A yellow colour, like that of a banana's skin.
- n. mildly pejorative, slang, ethnic slur A person of Asian descent, especially a Chinese American, who has assimilated into Western culture or married a Caucasian (from the “yellow” outside and “white” inside). Compare coconut ("assimilated Hispanic or Black").
- adj. Curved like a banana, especially of a ball in flight.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A perennial herbaceous plant of almost treelike size (Musa sapientum); also, its edible fruit. See musa.
WordNet 3.0
- n. elongated crescent-shaped yellow fruit with soft sweet flesh
- n. 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
Etymologies
- From Wolof banaana, via Spanish or Portuguese. (Wiktionary)
- Portuguese and Spanish, from Wolof, Mandingo, and Fulani. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“They contain vitamins and tasty sugars, and the word banana comes from an Arab-language word, banan, which means “finger.””
“ The term banana republic is often used in a disparaging sense; it suggests an unstable government.”
“Gives a whole new meaning to the name "banana spider".”
“The term banana is a racial epithet typically used in a derogatory fashion to imply that someone is “yellow (Asian/American) on the outside, white on the inside;” synonyms include Twinkie”
“Lovingly referred to as "Granny," Zhelesnik uses innovative strategies to teach the preschoolers at the Sundance School in New Jersey where she has worked for the last 15 years, such as baking banana bread to talk about the letter "N," as it appears twice in the word banana.”
The Huffington Post: Passionate Senior Citizens Rule Classrooms Into Their 80s, 90s
“If a banana is a fruit, then what do you define say, an orange, and apple, or a grape as?”
“No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.”
20 Fascinating Facts About the Natural Healing Power of Bananas
“To most people, a banana is a banana: a simple yellow fruit.”
“I would have squeezed if he had offered an apple. i am sure his banana is a little bit mushy.”
“Oh, and did I mention they have banana filling, making them what she calls banana split cupcakes?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘banana’.
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Loanwords
Since English is littered with loanwords, everything could conceivably end up here. But there is a distinct feeling associated with these.. maybe they're young additions to the English language; I ...
iceberg, fjord, firth, abbey, abyss, anorak, apartheid, assassin, avalanche, avocado, balaclava, banana and 104 more...
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Sweet tooth fairy dominoes
As originally suggested on sweet tooth fairy domino:
Each person adds one word trying to create a single, potentially infinite sweet tooth fairy (please look it up if you are not familiar wit...banana, boat, house, arrest, warrant, peace, sign, post, box, clever, Hans, device and 119 more...
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CULI - wine-tasting adjectives
In this area of expertise nouns are frequently used as adjectives (almond, bacon, cider, diesel, fennel, fresh-cut hay, wool) or new adjectives are formed (appley, berrylike, citrusy, full-bodied, ...
acetic, acidic, aged, angular, appley, astringent, attractive, austere, berrylike, big, bitter, brawny and 511 more...
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Palabras con una sola vocal
Lista de palabras en español que tienen una sóla vocal y con más de tres sÃlabas.
imprimir, horóscopo, palabras, odontólogo, entender, acababa, abracadabra, joropo, encender, apagar, endeble, neceser and 244 more...
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This List is Bananas
Here you will find cultivars, of course, but also diseases, dishes, and uses.
Cavendish, banana, bananas, non-Cavendish, Big Mike, Gros Michel, banana boat, yes, we have no b..., yes we have no ba..., let's make like a..., banana bread, banana republic and 135 more...
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Russian Doll Words
A Russian Doll word is a word that, when you remove the first and last letters, is either the empty string, or a Russian Doll word. These are all of the 6 or more letter Russian Doll words found in...
taramea, tawings, tchicks, timider, tirades, tirings, towings, trailed, trailer, trained, trainee, trainer and 2373 more...
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EN - xenophobic terms
Alle Menschen werden Brüder - sooner or later? Derogatory terms for anybody different.
abe, anchor baby, ann, ape, apple, asian nigger, aunt jemima , aunt jane, aunt mary, aunt sally, banana, beaner and 315 more...
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MANY A WORD!
This is just a list, right, that I'm gonna, like, fill with words, that, like, are every word that I can, like, think of with, ahhmm, my brain.
and, able, art, ass, algebra, amp, ankle, booze, bong, aura, bling, bright and 134 more...
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Reduples
Go for it, brothers and sisters! I personally have been suffering long for lack of an open reduplicatives list
happy clappy, bribble-brabble, diddle-daddle, hugger-mugger, kikiriki, Bora-Bora, mahi-mahi, jingle-jangle, knick-knack paddy..., chit-chat, bon-bon, clapperclaw and 292 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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Cute
My boyfriend and I started this list my Junior or Senior year of High school. It hasn't been added to in a while. It was a list of words that we thought sounded universally cute or had universal as...
cupcake, doilee, mitten, kitten, squiggle, button, cheek, papoose, pupa, sleep, cookie, treat and 45 more...
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Wierd/Cool/Random words
wikiphobia, banana, tounge, rock, guitar, tuna fish, vain, puffy, wiggle, googlewhack, leap, jette and 14 more...
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Colour Me Happy
violet, lavender, rose, eggshell, mauve, fuschia, grey, azure, almond, sienna, purple, periwinkle and 71 more...
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Duplicated Endings
Not an exhaustive list (there are probably scores of -erers and -ededs and -eses and -osos).
slyly, queue, caterer, malingerer, needed, stampeded, theses, cheeses, virtuosos, crisis, panini, banana and 9 more...
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6-letter words with precisely 1,2, & ...
allele, anatta, arrear, bedded, bettee, cocoon, doodad, gaggee, googol, hubbub, hammam, hummum and 30 more...
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The Sweet Smell of...
Things that smell good.
rain, rose, cinnamon, clove, jasmine, apple, sandalwood, rexo, bamboo, bacon, maple, eucalyptus and 36 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for banana.
chained_bear How to open a banana like a monkey, here. (With thanks to Frindley.)
Someone who desperately needs to see that video, here. Jul 16, 2009
reesetee Yeti penis? Haaaahahaha!
Ew. Jul 8, 2009
chained_bear "Let's All Ignore the Phallic Implications of Bananas." (don't forget to click the "next" button for full enjoyment) Jun 29, 2009
reesetee Skipvia: No, you're not.
Prolagus: Definitely the green one. Mar 9, 2009
bilby Please note that banana security issues have been on the agenda at least since abandannad. Mar 6, 2009
skipvia *whew* Mar 6, 2009
Prolagus ...Which one, and which color, would you buy as a fourth-year-anniversary gift? Mar 6, 2009
chained_bear Skipvia: No, you are not the only one. *shudders* Mar 6, 2009
bilby Oh no! There's not only THE ORIGINAL BANANA PROTECTOR, there are IMPOSTORS!
I like this comment on Amazon:
"No matter how curved my banana is, it always provides adequate protection, regardless of how dicey the situations. I love my bananas and i love my banana bunker. I own 4 and am saving up for blue!"
- W.C. Page, 30 June 2008. Mar 6, 2009
frogapplause Banana Guard
Let's all protect our bananas. Mar 5, 2009
lea Like safe sex? Hardly. Mar 5, 2009
skipvia Am I the only person that thinks that some people may use these items for...umm...something other than protecting bananas? Mar 5, 2009
lea What a dsgn piece of horror. Bananapocalypse. Now. Mar 5, 2009
chained_bear Just makes me even less likely to ever want to eat a banana again. Eesh.
Though I admit, for those who like to take bananas with them in lunch bags, this is a necessary item. Mar 5, 2009
Prolagus Oh, wow. I want it. I really do. Mar 5, 2009
reesetee Sweet mother of pearl.
Mar 5, 2009
bilby Yes we have no Spaniards, no Spaniards today. Oct 26, 2008
gangerh "It's like a banana saying 'I don't want to be a banana'. You're Spanish. Be Spanish."
Simon Cowell on The X-Factor. Oct 25, 2008
bilby Ana, nab a banana. Oct 18, 2008
bilby Aren't the corny jokes on maize? Sep 26, 2008
gangerh *reesetee slips up on banana skin* Sep 26, 2008
reesetee Oh, excuse me. I must have wandered onto the Corny Jokes page.
*wanders off* Sep 26, 2008
chained_bear AHUH! AHUH-HUH!! <---upper-class twit laugh Sep 25, 2008
bilby You been hanging with the wrong bunch c_b. Sep 25, 2008
gangerh Bahumanana nature. Sep 25, 2008
chained_bear Just proves my longstanding belief that humans, too, suck.
;) Sep 25, 2008
Prolagus Did you know
humans share about 50% of their DNA with bananas?
Sigma-Aldrich ad.
(Sorry, chained_bear) Sep 25, 2008
gangerh Move in a curve to allow the camera to see behind you. May 13, 2008