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banal - 8 dictionary results
ba⋅nal
[buh-nal, -nahl, beyn-l] 
l
–adjective
| devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite: a banal and sophomoric treatment of courage on the frontier. |
Related forms:
ba⋅nal⋅i⋅ty [buh-nal-i-tee, bey-] , noun
[buh-nal-i-tee, bey-] , noun ba⋅nal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To banal
| ba·nal (bə-nāl', bā'nəl, bə-näl') adj. Drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite: "Blunt language cannot hide a banal conception" (James Wolcott). [French, from Old French, shared by tenants in a feudal jurisdiction, from ban, summons to military service, of Germanic origin; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots.] ba·nal'ize' v., ba·nal'ly adv. Usage Note: The pronunciation of banal is not settled among educated speakers of American English. Sixty years ago, H.W. Fowler recommended the pronunciation (bān'əl, rhyming with panel), but this pronunciation is now regarded as recondite by most Americans: no member of the Usage Panel prefers this pronunciation. In our 2001 survey, (bənāl') is preferred by 58 percent of the Usage Panel, (bā'nəl) by 28 percent, and (bə-näl') by 13 percent (this pronunciation is more common in British English). Some Panelists admit to being so vexed by the problem that they tend to avoid the word in conversation. Speakers can perhaps take comfort in knowing that these three pronunciations each have the support of at least some of the Usage Panel and that none of them is incorrect. When several pronunciations of a word are widely used, there is really no right or wrong one. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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| Main Entry: | banal1 |
| Part of Speech: | adj |
| Definition: | commonplace; tired or petty |
| Etymology: | Serbo-Croatian ban 'lord, ruler' |
| Main Entry: | banal2 |
| Part of Speech: | adj |
| Definition: | pertaining to compulsory feudal service |
| Etymology: | Serbo-Croatian ban 'lord, ruler' |
| Main Entry: | banal3 |
| Part of Speech: | adj |
| Definition: | pertaining to a lord or ruler (banat) in Hungary, Croatia, and thereabouts |
| Etymology: | Serbo-Croatian ban 'lord, ruler' |
Language Translation for : banal
Spanish:
corriente,
German:
gewöhnlich,
Japanese:
ありふれた
Banal
Ban"al\, a. [F., fr. ban an ordinance.] Commonplace; trivial; hackneyed; trite.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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banal
"trite, commonplace," 1840, from Fr. banal, adj. form of ban "decree, legal control" (see ban (v.)). Originally designating things like ovens or mills that belonged to feudal serfs, or else compulsory military service; in either case generalized through "open to everyone" to "commonplace, ordinary," to "trite, petty."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: ba·nal
Pronunciation: b&-'nal, ba-, -'nol; bA-'nal; 'bAn-&l
Function: adjective
: of a common or ordinary kind<banal skin organisms> banal inflammation>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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