Standard Lemma guide

ensete

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɛnsət/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Ensete ventricosum, a species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae, the root of which is used for food and other purposes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Abyssinian banana, Ethiopian banana, false banana

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Old World tropical herbs: Abyssinian bananas

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: genus Ensete

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: monocot genus, liliopsid genus

History

Etymology

From Ge'ez እንሰት (inset, “the false banana Ensete ventricosum; ensete”).

Across languages

Translations

11 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: wildepiesang — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • Arabic: موز الحبشة — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • Finnish: etiopianbanaani — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • German: Ensete — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • German: Abessinische Banane — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • German: Zierbanane — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • Japanese: エンセーテ (ensēte) — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • Kikuyu: ihĩndu — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • Luganda: ekitembe — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • Portuguese: falsa-banana — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae
  • Portuguese: bananeira-da-abissínia — species of flowering plant in the banana family Musaceae