Banjo definition | Dictionary.com

ban⋅jo

[ban-joh]

–noun, plural -jos, -joes.

a musical instrument of the guitar family, having a circular body covered in front with tightly stretched parchment and played with the fingers or a plectrum.

Origin:
1730–40; cf. Jamaican E banja, bonjour, bangil, Brazilian Pg banza; prob. of African orig.; cf. Kimbundu mbanza a plucked string instrument

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : Banjo

Spanish:

banjo,

German:

das Banjo,

Japanese:

バンジョー

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ban·jo (bān'jō) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. ban·jos or ban·joes
A usually fretted stringed instrument having a narrow neck and a hollow circular body with a covering of plastic or stretched skin on which the bridge rests. The modern American banjo typically has four strings and often a short fifth string plucked with the thumb.

[Akin to Jamaican English banja, fiddle; probably akin to Kimbundu and Tshiluba mbanza, a plucked stringed instrument.]

ban'jo·ist n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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banjo

1764, Amer.Eng., usually described as of African origin, prob. akin to Bantu mbanza, an instrument resembling a banjo. The word has been infl. by colloquial pronunciation of bandore (1566), a 16c. stringed instrument like a lute and an ancestor (musically and linguistically) of mandolin; from Port. bandurra, from L. pandura, from Gk. pandoura "three-stringed instrument." The origin and influence may be the reverse of what is here described.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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banjo
noun
a stringed instrument of the guitar family that has long neck and circular body

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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banjo

A stringed musical instrument, played by plucking (see strings). The banjo has a percussive sound and is much used in folk music and bluegrass music.

[Chapter:] Fine Arts

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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