banana

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A long curved tropical fruit with a yellow skin and soft sweet flesh.

   Jimmy had a banana for breakfast.

2. 2
   noun

   The tropical plant that produces bananas, with large long leaves.

   Banana plants grow well in warm, wet climates.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Banana reached English in the late 16th century through Portuguese and Spanish from a language of the West African Mande group. Figurative uses are much later: go bananas arose in American usage in the 1950s, while top banana came from American theatrical slang for the comedian receiving top billing.

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”.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary