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• banda
  banda

  noun

  a style of Mexican dance music featuring brass instruments and having a heavy beat.
• Banda
  Banda

  noun

  Hastings Kamuzu 1906–97, Malawi physician, political leader, and public official: 1st president of Malawi 1966–94.

banda

¹ American  

[bahn-duh] / ˈbɑn də /

noun

1. a style of Mexican dance music featuring brass instruments and having a heavy beat.

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Banda ² American  

[ban-duh] / ˈbæn də /

noun

1. Hastings Kamuzu 1906–97, Malawi physician, political leader, and public official: 1st president of Malawi 1966–94.

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Banda British  

/ ˈbændə /

noun

1. Hastings Kamuzu (kæˈmuːzuː). 1906–97, Malawi statesman. As first prime minister of Nyasaland (from 1963), he led his country to independence (1964) as Malawi: president (1966–94)

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Etymology

Origin of banda

First recorded in 1990–95; from Mexican Spanish: literally, band ¹ (in the sense of “group of musicians”)

Example Sentences

Chuy Lizarraga and José Angel Ledezma Quintero—popularly known as El Coyote—boast a combined 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify, but their latest venture isn’t named after a heartbreak ballad or a rural banda anthem.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026

Vallejo’s parents first started going in the early ’90s, when banda and corridos began echoing across L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

“He was a trombone player and played in a banda in my mom’s hometown in Jalisco.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

Pivoting away from her usual banda influences, “Flores En Mi Alma” instead channels elements of cumbia, reggae and R&B into the sounds of contemporary música Mexicana.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 6, 2025

For an hour Bertram sat in his banda with throbbing, aching head, considering his verdict. 

From Cupid in Africa by Wren, P. C.