English Online Dictionary. What means banana? What does banana mean?
English
Etymology
From Wolof banaana, via Spanish or Portuguese, of unknown origin, but potentially from Arabic بَنَان (banān, “fingertip”).
The racial slur derives from the notion that they are "Yellow (East-Asian) on the outside, White (Westernized) on the inside".
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bə-näʹnə, IPA(key): /bəˈnɑː.nə/
- (General American) enPR: bə-năʹnə, IPA(key): /bəˈnæ.nə/
- Hyphenation: ba‧na‧na
- Rhymes: -ɑːnə, -ænə
Noun
banana (countable and uncountable, plural bananas)
- An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.
- (Canada, US, UK, Ireland) In particular, the sweet, yellow fruit of the Cavendish banana cultivar, which may be eaten raw, as distinct from e.g. a plantain for cooking.
- The tropical tree-like plant which bears clusters of bananas, a plant of the genus Musa (but sometimes also including plants from Ensete), which has large, elongated leaves.
- (uncountable) A yellow colour, like that of a banana's skin.
- (derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of East Asian descent, especially an ethnic Chinese from a Western country who does not speak Chinese, considered to be overly assimilated and subservient to White authority.
- Synonym: Twinkie
- (slang) The penis.
- (sports) A banana kick.
- (nuclear physics) A banana equivalent dose.
- (computer science, colloquial) A catamorphism (from the use of banana brackets in the notation).
Hypernyms
- (fruit): fruit
- (Asian assimilated into Western culture): race traitor
Hyponyms
- (Asian assimilated into Western culture): jook-sing
Coordinate terms
- (Asian assimilated into Western culture): egg, coconut, Oreo
- (fruit): finger, hand
Derived terms
Translations
Adjective
banana (not comparable)
- Curved like a banana, especially of a ball in flight.
Hypernyms
- bunch
- hand
- Appendix:English collective nouns
See also
- bananas (adj)
References
Anagrams
- Annaba
Asturian
Noun
banana f (plural bananes)
- banana (fruit)
Synonyms
- plátanu
Catalan
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [bəˈna.nə]
- IPA(key): (Valencian) [baˈna.na]
Noun
banana f (plural bananes)
- banana (fruit)
- Synonym: plàtan
Derived terms
- bananer
Further reading
- “banana” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Cornish
Etymology
From English banana.
Pronunciation
- (Revived Middle Cornish) IPA(key): [baˈnaːna]
- (Revived Late Cornish) IPA(key): [bəˈnæːnɐ]
Noun
banana m (plural bananas)
- banana
Mutation
French
Pronunciation
Verb
banana
- third-person singular past historic of bananer (to make a mistake)
Galician
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɐˈnanɐ/
Noun
banana f (plural bananas)
- banana (fruit)
- Synonym: plátano
Related terms
- bananeira
Further reading
- “banana” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.
Icelandic
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -aːnana
Noun
banana
- definite accusative plural of bani
- inflection of banani:
- indefinite accusative
- indefinite dative singular
- indefinite genitive
Irish
Etymology
From Wolof banaana.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bˠəˈn̪ˠan̪ˠə/
Noun
banana m (genitive singular banana, nominative plural bananaí)
- banana
Declension
Derived terms
- crann bananaí (“banana-tree”)
Mutation
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “banana”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /baˈna.na/
- Rhymes: -ana
- Hyphenation: ba‧nà‧na
Noun
banana f (plural banane)
- banana (fruit)
Noun
banana m (invariable)
- banana (color)
Adjective
banana (invariable)
- banana (color)
Related terms
- banano
Japanese
Romanization
banana
- Rōmaji transcription of バナナ
Lower Sorbian
Etymology
From German Banane, ultimately from Wolof banaana.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /baˈnana/
Noun
banana f inan
- banana
Declension
References
- Starosta, Manfred (1999), “banana”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
- Lower Sorbian vocabulary. In: Haspelmath, M. & Tadmor, U. (eds.) World Loanword Database. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Maltese
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian banana, from Wolof banaana.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /baˈnaː.na/
Noun
banana m (collective, singulative banana, paucal bananiet)
- banana (fruit)
Portuguese
Etymology
Uncertain. Possibly from Wolof banaana (“banana”) or Arabic بَنَان (banān, “fingertip, banana”).
Pronunciation
- (Northeast Brazil) IPA(key): /bɐ̃ˈnɐ̃.nɐ/
- Rhymes: -ɐ̃nɐ, -ɐnɐ
- Hyphenation: ba‧na‧na
Noun
banana f (plural bananas)
- banana (fruit)
- As bananas são ricas em potássio ― Bananas are high in potassium
- banana (plant)
- Synonym: (more common) bananeira
- (informal) penis
- (Brazil, informal) bras d'honneur (obscene gesture)
- Synonym: (Portugal) manguito
Noun
banana m or f by sense (plural bananas)
- (derogatory, slang) wimp (a weak or unconfident person)
- Aquele rapaz é um banana! ― That guy is a wimp!
Romanian
Noun
banana f
- definite singular nominative/accusative of banană (banana (fruit))
Sardinian
Etymology
From Spanish banana, from Wolof banaana.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /banana/
Noun
banana f (plural bananas)
- banana (fruit)
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
From Spanish, from Portuguese, from Wolof banaana.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /banǎːna/
- Hyphenation: ba‧na‧na
Noun
banána f (Cyrillic spelling бана́на)
- banana
Declension
References
- “banana” in Hrvatski jezični portal
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Wolof banaana.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /baˈnana/ [baˈna.na]
- Rhymes: -ana
- Syllabification: ba‧na‧na
Noun
banana f (plural bananas)
- (Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay) banana (fruit)
- Synonyms: plátano, guineo, cambur, banano
Usage notes
- banana may also be used in Spain, to differentiate from plátano (“plantain”); otherwise, plátano refers to either.
Derived terms
Further reading
- “banana”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Tok Pisin
Etymology
From English banana.
Noun
banana
- banana
Welsh
Etymology
From English banana, from Wolof banaana, via Portuguese and/or Spanish.
Pronunciation
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /baˈnana/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /baˈna(ː)na/
- Rhymes: -ana
Noun
banana f (plural bananas)
- banana
Synonyms
- (jocular) ffrwchnedden