Plural of banjo; stringed musical instruments with a circular wooden body covered with skin or synthetic material and typically four to six strings.
From Portuguese 'bandore' or Spanish 'bandurria,' which themselves derive from African origins—the word likely traces back through Portuguese colonial contact with Bantu languages, where similar instruments existed.
The banjo is one of the few musical instruments with a clearly traceable African-American origin story—enslaved Africans adapted instruments from their homeland using available materials, creating an instrument that became central to American music.
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