banana
Americannoun
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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
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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
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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
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Spelling Practice 2, Unit 7
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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:
Richard Thomas came out carrying venison and beef sausage, banana nut bread, a dog toy and a jar of apple maple bacon jam.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 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
The banana tree was the first thing they started to grow - which gave them the idea the garden could potentially turn into a mini jungle.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Bob Blumenfield would like to see Angelenos’ old banana peels and moldy bread stay local.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Technically, he’s top banana as president of the eighth grade, even though he only ran for office to impress Suzy Kraft, who dumped him anyway, the day after the election.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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
The Congolese proverb little by little, grow the bananas emphasises the virtues of patience and steady progress.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 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
Now alongside the empty milk crates at Mr. P’s, brown paper bags with collars neatly rolled boasted plump strawberries, crimson cherries and Chiquita bananas.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
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.
