banjo

[ban-joh] /ˈbæn dʒoʊ/
noun, plural banjos, banjoes.
1.
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; compare Jamaican English banja, bonjour, bangil, Brazilian Portuguese banza; probably of African orig.; compare Kimbundu mbanza a plucked string instrument
Related forms
banjoist, noun
Examples from the web for banjo
  • He learned to play the banjo, and threw that out of the window instead.
  • Jarrell learned the way practically every other fiddler and banjo player did-by ear, at the knee of older musicians.
  • Members of the band play the fiddle and banjo in various styles, a key to the age of the tunes.
British Dictionary definitions for banjo

banjo

/ˈbændʒəʊ/
noun (pl) -jos, -joes
1.
a stringed musical instrument with a long neck (usually fretted) and a circular drumlike body overlaid with parchment, plucked with the fingers or a plectrum
2.
(slang) any banjo-shaped object, esp a frying pan
3.
(Austral & NZ, slang) a long-handled shovel with a wide blade
4.
(modifier) banjo-shaped: a banjo clock
Derived Forms
banjoist, noun
Word Origin
C18: variant (US Southern pronunciation) of bandore
Word Origin and History for banjo
n.

1764, American English, usually described as of African origin, probably akin to Bantu mbanza, an instrument resembling a banjo. The word has been influenced by colloquial pronunciation of bandore (1560s in English), a 16c. stringed instrument like a lute and an ancestor (musically and linguistically) of mandolin; from Portuguese bandurra, from Latin pandura, from Greek pandoura "three-stringed instrument." The origin and influence might be the reverse of what is here described.

banjo in Culture

banjo definition


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.