Wordul · all words

noun · 2 syllables · /'bæn.dʒoʊ/

BANJO

What does "BANJO" mean?

A stringed instrument with a round, drum-like body and a long fretted neck.

Meanings

  1. A plucked string instrument with a circular body covered by a stretched membrane, typically four or five strings, central to American folk and bluegrass music. He picked out a fast roll on the banjo while the fiddle came in.

Did you know?

  • The banjo, now an icon of American country and bluegrass, has African roots: enslaved Africans built its early gourd-bodied ancestors from West African plucked-string instruments.

Word origin

An American English word of African origin, likely from a Kongo or West African term such as 'mbanza' for a similar plucked instrument; carried to the Americas by enslaved Africans.

Remember it

BANJO = BAN + JO: imagine a 'BAN' on quiet, because the round-bodied banjo brings the JOy and the noise.

A little poem

Skin stretched on a ring-
five strings spill a porch of sound
older than its tune.

haiku

Wordplay

  • What's the difference between a banjo and a trampoline? You take your shoes off to jump on a trampoline.

What it teaches

An instrument can outrun its own history into a new home and still carry the old country in its strings.

Quick facts

What does BANJO mean?

A stringed instrument with a round, drum-like body and a long fretted neck.

Is BANJO a valid word?

Yes — BANJO is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is BANJO?

BANJO has 5 letters and 2 syllables.

Where does BANJO come from?

An American English word of African origin, likely from a Kongo or West African term such as 'mbanza' for a similar plucked instrument; carried to the Americas by enslaved Africans.

What can BANJO teach us?

An instrument can outrun its own history into a new home and still carry the old country in its strings.

How players do

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