banana

CEFRA1

/bəˈnɑː.nə/

noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A long curved fruit with yellow skin.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The tropical tree-like plant which bears clusters of bananas, a plant of the genus Musa (but sometimes also including plants from Ensete), which has large, elongated leaves.

Examples

  • Have you ever eaten a banana pie?

  • The monkey took a banana by means of the stick.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • /bəˈna.na/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.

  2. A yellow color, like that of a banana's skin.

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Curved like a banana, especially of a ball in flight.

More examples

In context

  • Jimmy had a banana for breakfast.

  • However, Bill said "banana."

  • I'll need a few things. I'll need some mayonnaise and a silver tin of sardines, a banana.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She peeled the yellow blank and sliced it into her morning cereal.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Borrowed from Portuguese banana or Spanish banana, derived from a Niger-Congo language spoken in the Guinea region. Specific derivation is unclear. Possible ancestor or cognate languages include Wolof banaana, Eastern Maninkakan banana, and Vai ꕒꘌꕯ (ɓaana) or ꕒꕌꕯ (ɓaana), possibly from Arabic بَنَان (banān, “fingertip, banana”). However, Ay Baati Wolof (Munro & Gaye, 1997) posits that Wolof banaana is itself derived from Portuguese banana. The racial slur derives from the notion that they are “Yellow (East-Asian) on the outside, but White (Westernized) on the inside”.