Etymologically
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banana

Etymology and origin of the English word banana

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1563
Borrowed from
Portuguese banana
Ultimate origin
Portuguese (banana)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /bəˈnɑː.nə/, US /bəˈnæn.ə/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Portuguese banana or Spanish banana,[2][3][4] from a West African word, compare Wolof and Mandingo banäna, barända, plantain;[2][4][3] Word Origins and the NODE name the Mande languages as the source.[5][6] The plant itself is native to Southeast Asia and was brought to Africa in prehistoric times.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fruit: 1563 in the OED;[7] 1597 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster, the 1590s in Etymonline.[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The plant itself is called banana from 1697 in the OED, the 1690s in Etymonline.[7][3] Banana-skin, also as a figure for a cause of embarrassment, is among the compounds the OED records from 1713 onward.[7] Bananas, crazy or wild with excitement or anger, is from 1935 in the OED,[7] spread in American English in the 1950s;[5] top banana, the most important person, also came from 20th-century slang.[5]

Timeline

  • 1563 – the fruit.[7]
  • 1697 – the plant.[7]
  • 1923 – a banana-yellow colour.[7]
  • 1935 – bananas, crazy.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The long curved fruit of a tropical plant, with a yellow skin and soft sweet flesh.
  2. The treelike tropical plant of the genus Musa that bears this fruit.

Adjective

  1. bananas (slang): crazy, or wild with excitement or anger.
  • plantain

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Banana.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/banana. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·