banda

¹ American  

[bahn-duh] / ˈbɑn də /

noun

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

---

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.

---

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)

---

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

“This is very Pancho Barraza-style, especially with the venado shirt. I looked up old videos of him performing on YouTube. I do that a lot with these older banda looks,” Vallejo says.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

However, while at La Tardeada, Chávez said the event could be the city’s largest banda festival and that it also highlighted a larger mainstream market shift seen throughout larger venues and concert halls.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2025

The snapshots of her daughter, Emily Garcia, were the way Tecum wanted to remember her: Laughing, smiling, dancing to banda music, her makeup immaculate as ever.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 26, 2024

Furthermore, village names qualified by the term "otra banda" and appearing in the baptism record for the first time prior to 1800 must certainly refer to villages in this region.

From The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, California by Cook, Sherburne F.