edible banana

1.0

A type of banana grown for its soft, sweet yellow flesh

noun
/ˈɛdɪbəl bəˈnænə/

: plátano comestible

The edible banana is a staple fruit in many tropical countries.

Examples

Unlike the wild varieties, the edible banana has a soft, sweet flesh.
This edible banana is ripe and sweet.
She bought a bunch of edible bananas at the market to make a fruit salad.
I bought some edible bananas at the market.
I ate a ripe edible banana for breakfast this morning.
The smoothie was made with fresh edible bananas and strawberries.
In my fruit basket, the edible bananas are ready to be eaten.

Synonyms

banana

vsedible banana

123 1.0

A tall tropical plant with large leaves that grows clusters of fruit

is a specific cultivated food type rather than the whole plant group

edible fruit

vsedible banana

1 1.0

A fruit you can safely eat that is usually sweet

is the cultivated sweet yellow form rather than other foods

Musa paradisiaca sapientum

vsedible banana

Specialized

9.1

A plant that grows the bananas people eat

is the general cultivated type eaten as food rather than the named species

Musa acuminata

vsedible banana

Specialized

9.1

A low-growing Asian banana plant grown for clusters of edible yellow fruit

is the common cultivated form not limited to that growth habit or region

dwarf banana

vsedible banana

4.4

A small banana tree that grows near the ground and makes sweet yellow fruit

is the broader cultivated kind not limited to that small growth form

How Edible

edible banana

1.0

inedible

11 4.5

poisonous

90 2.8

Surface Forms

edible banana singular

edible bananas plural

Morphology

edible + banana

The meaning is directly compositional: 'edible' (suitable to eat) modifies 'banana' (the fruit), so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer a banana that is fit to eat or cultivated for its sweet fruit. This adjective+noun pattern is literal and cross-linguistically common, making the expression immediately understandable.

Etymology

Edible banana began as a simple name to show the sweet, farm-grown banana you can eat. People used edible to point out these banana fruits were soft and yellow and good 'to eat', not the wild, bitter kinds, so today it means the common sweet banana we eat.