banana

🍌
Meaning

Frequency

B2
Hyphenated as
ba‧na‧na
Pronounced as (IPA)
/bəˈnɑː.nə/
Etymology

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). 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, White (Westernized) on the inside".

Related words

Bookmark this

Improve your pronunciation

English

Start learning English with learnfeliz.

Practice speaking and memorizing "banana" and many other words and sentences in English.

Go to our English course page

Notes

Sign in to write sticky notes

Questions