بنان

See also: بيان, تیان, بیان, تبان, and يبان

Arabic

Alternative forms

بَنَام (banām) — from ʿUmar ibn ʾAbī Rabīʿa
بَنَّة (banna) — Yemen, plural بِنَان (binān) and بَنَّات (bannāt)

Etymology

From the root ب و ن (b w n), for the interstices between the fingers. Maybe also related to إِبْهَام (ʔibhām, “thumb”). The sense of bananas is from French banane.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ba.naːn/

Noun

بَنَان • (banān) pl (collective, singulative بَنَانَة f (banāna))

the fingertips or fingers
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 75:3-4:
  أَيَحۡسَبُ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنُ أَلَّن نَّجۡمَعَ عِظَامَهُۥ ۝ بَلَىٰ قَـٰدِرِينَ عَلَىٰۤ أَن نُّسَوِّيَ بَنَانَهُۥ
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- a. 1200, القاضي الفاضل, وصغيرهم عبد العزيز فانني […]‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 January 2025:
  إن البنان الخمس أكفاء معا
  والحلى دون جميعها للخنصر
  وإذا الفتى فقد الشباب سماله
  حب البنين ولا كَحُبّ الأصغر
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- a. 1954, الشاذلي خزنه دار, مسكت اليراع بطرف البنان […]‎^[2]:
  مسكت اليراع بطرف البنان
  وقلت إلى الفكر هل من بيان
  I grabbed the reed pen through the tips of the fingers
  And asked the mind whether it got any idea
(Modern Standard Arabic, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia) banana
Synonym: مَوْز (mawz)

Declension

Declension of noun **بَنَان** (banān)
plural	basic broken plural triptote
plural	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	بَنَان banān	الْبَنَان al-banān	بَنَان banān
nominative	بَنَانٌ banānun	الْبَنَانُ al-banānu	بَنَانُ banānu
accusative	بَنَانًا banānan	الْبَنَانَ al-banāna	بَنَانَ banāna
genitive	بَنَانٍ banānin	الْبَنَانِ al-banāni	بَنَانِ banāni

Descendants

→? Wolof: banaana (see there for further descendants)

References

Behnstedt, Peter, Woidich, Manfred (2010) Wortatlas der arabischen Dialekte – Band I: Mensch, Natur, Fauna und Flora (Handbook of Oriental Studies – Handbuch der Orientalistik; 100) (in German), Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, →DOI, →ISBN, page 517
Freytag, Georg (1830) “بنان”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[3] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 158b
Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “بنان”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[4] (in French), volume 2, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, page 166a
Landberg, Carlo, editor (1920), Glossaire daṯînois‎^[5] (in French), Leiden: Brill, pages 210–212
Militarev, Alexander, Kogan, Leonid (2000) Semitic Etymological Dictionary, volumes I: Anatomy of Man and Animals, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 33–34 Nr. 34
Lane, Edward William (1863-1893) “بنان”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 258b–c.
Wehr, Hans (1979) “بنان”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 93

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bnaːn/

Adjective

بنان • (bnān)

plural of بنين (bnīn)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /banaːn/

Noun

بنان • (banān) m (collective, singulative بنانة f (banāna), plural بنانات (banānāt))

banana