[ban-joh] 
| 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. |
| ban·jo (bān'jō) 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. |
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.