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nana

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nana¹

  • /ˈnɑːnə/

Rhymes with -ɑːnə

Where it comes from

An apheretic form of banana.

noun nanas · 'nana · narna · narner

  1. informal A banana.
  2. UK, slang A foolish person. You look a right nana dressed up like that.

nana²

  • /ˈnænə/

Rhymes with -ænə

Where it comes from

Variant spelling of nanna.

noun nanas · nanna · nan

  1. informal One's grandmother.
  2. informal A nanny.

nana³

Where it comes from

From Hindi or Urdu नाना ("nana")

noun nanas

  1. colloquial, countable, informal, uncountable One's maternal grandfather.

noun nanas

  1. colloquial, countable, informal, uncountable One's father.

Nana⁴

  • /ˈnænə/ US

Rhymes with -ænə

proper noun

  1. endearing Alternative letter-case form of nana; one's grandmother.
  2. informal A governess.

Nana⁵

proper noun

  1. A female given name from Japanese.

Nana⁶

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Νάνα (Nána).

proper noun

  1. Greek A demigoddess, the daughter of Sangarius and mother of Attis.

Nana⁷

Where it comes from

Apparently ultimately from Sumerian 𒀭𒈾𒈾𒀀 (na-na-a) (where the first symbol, 𒀭, is a determinative meaning goddess and has no reading).

proper noun

  1. An ancient goddess of Eastern Iran, standing at the top of many worshipping cultures' pantheons.

Nana⁸

Where it comes from

Not certain whether directly derived from Armenian Նանե (Nane), or by association with the ancient Iranian goddess of the same name.

proper noun

  1. alternative Alternative form of Nane (“Armenian mother-goddess and equivalent of Athena”).

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: gran, granny, grams, grandma, auntie, aunty, grandmother, aunt, lady, nanny, woman, nan, nursemaid, amah, girl, girlfriend

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Cite this
MLA

"nana." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/nana. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

nana. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/nana

Chicago

"nana." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/nana.

BibTeX
@misc{nana_2026,
  title = {nana},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/nana},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}