Definition
nounAn elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin.
nounAn elongated curved tropical fruit of a banana plant, which grows in bunches and has a creamy flesh and a smooth skin., In particular, the sweet, yellow fruit of the Cavendish banana cultivar, which may be eaten raw, as distinct from e.g. a plantain for cooking.
Sentence Examples
Have you ever eaten a banana pie?
However, Bill said "banana."
The monkey took a banana by means of the stick.
Word Origin & History
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”.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I'll need a few things. I'll need some mayonnaise and a silver tin of sardines, a banana."
— 2017, Sam Shepard, chapter 27, in Spy of the First Person, →ISBN, page 62:
"The fact that the cop bought O'Brien a beer after feeling of his banana suggests that it must have been a promising one"
— 1986, Christopher Street, Cop Feels of Three Men's "Privates", volume 10:
"His you-know-what turned soft .. his eight o'clock class was the last thing on his mind five minutes ago, when his banana wasn't overripe."
— 2012, Sarah Miynowski, Fishbowl, page 36:
"Most of the gang were trying their best to shag the girls. One boy was sitting in a tree playing with himself and another was asking a table of teenagers if they would like to see his banana."
— 2014, Anthony Bunko, Lord Forgive Me, page 71:
"He adds that after eating his banana (sucking his penis), he wants anal sex, but she asks him to lick her pussy. Then he tells her no because it is disgusting."
— 2017, Intimate Relationships in Cinema, Literature and Visual Culture, page 234: