musaceous

[ myoo-zey-shuhs ]

adjective

1. belonging to the banana family (Musaceae) of mostly tropical treelike plants.
2. of or relating to the fruit of the tropical treelike plants of the banana family, especially bananas and plantains:

   I decided to be brave and try the “musaceous salad,” but it was just a bowl of sliced bananas!

musaceous

/ mjuːˈzeɪʃəs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Musaceae, a family of tropical flowering plants having large leaves and clusters of elongated berry fruits: includes the banana, edible plantain, and Manila hemp

Word History and Origins

Origin of musaceous¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from New Latin Musace(ae), family name Mus(a), genus name, from Arabic mawzah “banana,” perhaps from Sanskrit mocaḥ + -aceae -aceae + -ous; banana family ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of musaceous¹

C19: from New Latin Mūsāceae, from Mūsa genus name, from Arabic mawzah banana

Example Sentences

Musaceous, mū-zā′shus, adj. relating to an order of plants, of which the genus Mū′sa is the type, the banana or plantain family.

From Project Gutenberg

Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon Pirate Prentice's flat fills with "the fragile, musaceous odour of Breakfast, permeating, suprising, more than the color of winter sunlight".

From The Guardian

A botanist would not readily guess that the thick wood covering this valley is formed by the assemblage of a plant of the musaceous family.*

From Project Gutenberg

The same scarcity of large-leaved Musaceous and Marantaceous plants was noticeable here as at Obydos.

From Project Gutenberg