English Online Dictionary. What means banana? What does banana mean?
English
Etymology
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). 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, White (Westernized) on the inside".
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bə-näʹnə, IPA(key): /bəˈnɑː.nə/
- (General American) enPR: bə-năʹnə, IPA(key): /bəˈnæ.nə/
- Rhymes: -ɑːnə, -ænə
- Hyphenation: ba‧na‧na
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. [from 1597]
- (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. [from 1697]
- (uncountable) A yellow color, like that of a banana's skin. [from 1923]
- (derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of East or Southeast Asian descent, considered to be overly assimilated and subservient to white authority. [from 1970]
- 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
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /baˈnana/, [baˈna.na]
- Rhymes: -ana
- Hyphenation: ba‧na‧na
Noun
banana f (plural bananes)
- banana (fruit)
- Synonym: plátanu
Catalan
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (Central, Balearic) [bəˈna.nə]
- IPA(key): (Valencia) [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): /baˈnana/ [baˈnã.nɐ]
- Rhymes: -ana
- Hyphenation: ba‧na‧na
Noun
banana f (plural bananas)
- banana (fruit)
- Synonym: plátano
Related terms
- bananeira
Further reading
- “banana”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024
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
Latin
Noun
banana f (genitive bananae); first declension
- (New Latin) banana
- Synonyms: (Classical Latin, rare) ariēna, (Medieval Latin) mūsa
Declension
First-declension noun.
Lower Sorbian
Etymology
From German Banane, ultimately from Wolof banaana.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /baˈnana/
Noun
banana f
- 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
Borrowed from a Niger-Congo language spoken in the Guinea region. Further derivation is unclear. Possible ancestor or cognate languages include Wolof banaana, Eastern Maninkakan banana, and Vai ꕒꘌꕯ (ɓaana) or ꕒꕌꕯ (ɓaana). However, Ay Baati Wolof (Munro & Gaye, 1997) posits that Wolof banaana is itself derived from Portuguese.
Pronunciation
- (Northeast Brazil) IPA(key): /bɐ̃ˈnɐ̃.nɐ/
- Rhymes: -ɐ̃nɐ, -ɐnɐ
- Hyphenation: ba‧na‧na
Noun
banana f (plural bananas)
- banana (fruit)
- Synonym: (Brazil) pacova
- 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
Derived terms
Descendants
- →? English: banana
- → French: banane
- → German: Banane, Banana (obsolete; until 19th c.)
- → Hunsrik: Banann
- →? Spanish: banana
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!
References
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 [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024
Spanish
Etymology
Derived from a Niger-Congo language spoken in the Guinea region, probably through Portuguese banana. Further derivation is unclear. Possible ancestor or cognate languages include Wolof banaana, Eastern Maninkakan banana, and Vai ꕒꘌꕯ (ɓaana) or ꕒꕌꕯ (ɓaana). However, Ay Baati Wolof (Munro & Gaye, 1997) posits that Wolof banaana is itself derived from Portuguese banana.
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
Descendants
- →? English: banana
References
Further reading
- “banana”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
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
- (humorous) ffrwchnedden