Musa

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of tropical plants that includes bananas and plantains, which are cultivated for their fruit and sometimes for ornamental purposes
2. A group of flowering plants in the family Musaceae, known for their large leaves and fruit that is a staple food in many cultures
3. An important genus in botany, primarily recognized for its edible fruits, as well as its significant ecological role in various tropical environments

Etymology: The banana plant's genus name, "Musa," honours a physician rather than a fruit. Antonio Musa, personal doctor to the Roman emperor Augustus, is the person commemorated by the Latin name, which Linnaeus later adopted for the genus. The word reached English as a scientific name for the plant, and from there the common word for the fruit followed. The Latin "Musa" itself has a different ancestry. It is borrowed from Greek "mousa," the source of the English "muse," and in Greek it could mean a goddess of the arts or simply inspiration. Botanists picked it up as a genus label in the eighteenth century, so the fruit's name rests on a Roman doctor's name rather than on the Muses of myth.

Synonyms: banana, plantain, fruit