banjo

American  

[ban-joh] / ˈbæn dʒoʊ /

noun

• banjos,
  plural
• banjoes
  plural

1. a musical instrument of the guitar family, having a circular body covered in front with tightly stretched parchment and played with the fingers or a plectrum.

---

banjo British  

/ ˈbændʒəʊ /

noun

1. a stringed musical instrument with a long neck (usually fretted) and a circular drumlike body overlaid with parchment, plucked with the fingers or a plectrum

2. slang any banjo-shaped object, esp a frying pan

3. slang a long-handled shovel with a wide blade

4. (modifier) banjo-shaped

   a banjo clock

---

banjo Cultural  

1. A stringed musical instrument, played by plucking (see strings). The banjo has a percussive sound and is much used in folk music and bluegrass music.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• banjoist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• banjoes
  plural
• banjos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of banjo

First recorded in 1730–40; compare Jamaican English banja, bonjour, bangil, Brazilian Portuguese banza; probably of African origin; compare Kimbundu mbanza a plucked string instrument

Explanation

A banjo is a musical stringed instrument with a round body and a neck. Bluegrass bands almost always include at least one banjo. A banjo can be played by strumming it like a guitar, or by plucking or picking the strings. Banjos can have four, five, or six strings, and their origins go back to African instruments, whose designs influenced African slaves in Colonial America to create the first banjos. The word banjo was originally used in 18th century America, from the Bantu mbanza, a banjo-like stringed instrument.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

banjo banjoes banjos

And she was adventurous enough to employ down-home lead acoustic guitar, banjo and jug-band backing on several cuts when very few associated with jazz would go there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

At her interview she gave a PowerPoint presentation, covering everything from the things she loves, including Dolly Parton to her banjo, to how much she wanted to be with nature.

From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2026

But then we see him at the top of the cliff, strumming the banjo that Maude gave him, choosing to live, although he’d just lost what led him to come to the conclusion.

From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2026

There’s no banjo, slide, or pedal-steel guitar here, and the arrangements zero in on simplicity, conveying harmonic structure and mood with only essential instrumentation, which keeps the emphasis on the songwriting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025

I hear voices in the living room—a chorus of them, in fact, joined by occasional bursts of laughter and a faint melody plucked on an instrument, a banjo or a guitar.

From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

The moon had risen higher, and floating in the Sound was a triangle of silver scales, trembling a little to the stiff, tinny drip of the banjoes on the lawn.

From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

There was fiddles make from gourds and banjoes from sheep hides.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves: Volume XVI, Texas Narratives, Part 4 by United States. Work Projects Administration

We had serenades, too, on banjoes and old tin pans and whatever you wanted to make a noise.

From Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 2 by Work Projects Administration

Atter supper dey started up playin' dem fiddles and banjoes, and de dancin' begun.

From Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 2 by Work Projects Administration

His love of music was evinced by the number of violins, banjoes, guitars, and other musical instruments that adorned his drawing-room.

From A Book of Remarkable Criminals by Henry Brodribb Irving

Those with resources and a parlor might have a piano, while those who had less made do with fiddles and banjos.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

Over a pleasantly discordant score of dreamy electronic chords and twanging banjos, Matthew finds pencil marks charting his growth as a child while these parents fuss over their own new baby.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2025

The song builds and builds with an electric guitar that matches the singer's mezzo-soprano and four-octave vocals that merge into the heavy country production backed by drums and banjos.

From Salon ● Feb. 12, 2024

After building her reputation in Nashville, 1989 jettisons the banjos in favour of insistent, needling beats and tales of bohemian nightlife.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2023

“Sure, it works for the Amity. But what happens when not everyone wants to strum banjos and grow crops? What happens when someone does something terrible and talking about it can’t solve the problem?”

From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth