banana
Americannoun
-
a tropical plant of the genus Musa, certain species of which are cultivated for their nutritious fruit.
-
the fruit, especially that of M. paradisiaca, with yellow or reddish rind.
noun
-
any of several tropical and subtropical herbaceous treelike plants of the musaceous genus Musa , esp M. sapientum , a widely cultivated species propagated from suckers and having hanging clusters of edible fruit
-
the crescent-shaped fruit of any of these plants Compare plantain 2
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of banana
1590–1600; < Spanish < Portuguese (perhaps via Sp); akin to various words for banana or plantain in WAfr languages (e.g., Wolof, Malinke banana, Vai (Mande language of Liberia) bana ), but ultimate source and direction of borrowing uncertain
Explanation
A banana is a curved, yellow fruit with a thick skin and soft sweet flesh. If you eat a banana every day for breakfast, your roommate might nickname you "the monkey." A banana is a tropical fruit that's quite popular all over the world. It grows in bunches on a banana tree. To "go bananas" is a slangy way of saying "go crazy" or act ridiculous, and if someone refers to the "top banana," they mean the most important person in a particular group. The origin of banana isn't certain, but it's thought that it was borrowed by the Spanish or Portuguese from an African word, probably the Wolof word banana.
Vocabulary lists containing banana
Yellow
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Spelling Practice 2, Unit 7
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The perfect one is raw spinach and banana.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Every Friday, students are offered an egg, while those who do not eat eggs receive a banana instead.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
More than a century ago, psychologist Wolfgang Köhler showed that chimpanzees could suddenly solve unfamiliar problems by combining objects in new ways, such as stacking boxes to reach a banana hanging overhead.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 3, 2026
Bob Blumenfield would like to see Angelenos’ old banana peels and moldy bread stay local.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Monday morning, she showed up carrying a box loaded to the top with two loaves of banana bread, two pies, peanut butter cookies, corn muffins, a dish of macaroni and cheese, and a lasagna.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
By slashing prices on some core items, Primark is likely hoping to woo shoppers with low-cost staples, in the same way that supermarkets attract customers with cheap milk and bananas, Berg says.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Whole fruits included apples, oranges, bananas, mangos, grapes, pears, melons, strawberries and peaches.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
Lamont’s recommendation therefore, is to exercise patience.”IPOs are like bananas: they need to ripen before they’re ready to eat.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
At Kampala’s Mirembe food market, where stalls overflow with watermelons and green bananas, fish vendor Medie Waiswa uses disinfectant every morning to clean his countertop, storage cabinet, chairs and motorcycle handlebars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
But she helped Nim clean the sand out with fresh coconut juice, and then Fred hinted that they ought to eat the coconut now they’d opened it, so they had it for lunch with bananas.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
