bamboo-partridge 
bamboo-partridge (bam-b5'par"trij), n. A 
member of the genus Vamlmsicola. 
bambOO-rat (bam-bo'rat), . A species of ro- 
dent animal of the size of a rabbit, belonging 
to the genus Khison/ytt, found in Malacca. 
bamboozle (bam-bo'xl), r.; pret. and pp. bum- 
booked, ppr. bamboozling. [Mentioned by Swift 
in 1710 among " certain words invented by some 
pretty fellows, snchasbantcr, bamboozle, country 
nut . . some of which are now struggling for 
the vogue" (Tatler, No. 230); appar. a slang 
word, of no definite origin, connected with 
(prob. abbreviated to) bamb, bam, which ap- 
pears a little later: see bam. Cf. Sc. bombasc, 
bumbazc, confuse, stupefy, based, based, basit, 
confused, stupid.] I. trans. 1. To hoax; de- 
ceive ; trick ; impose upon. 
All the people upon earth, excepting these two or three 
worthy "entlemen, are imposed upon, cheated, bubbled, 
abused, bamboozled! Addison, Drummer, i. 1. 
Americans are neither to be dragooned nor bamboozled 
out of their liberty. Franklin, Life, p. 514. 
436 
It's supposed by this trick 
He bamboozled Old Nick. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 203. 
2. To perplex ; mystify. 
banana 
the verb: see Sow 1 , v., and of. banish.] 1. In 
feudal times: (a) A public proclamation or 
edict; especially, a proclamation summoning 
to arms, (fe) The array or body so summoned. 
See arriere-ban, 2. 
The ban was sometimes convoked, that is, the possessors 
of the fiefs were called upon for military services in sub- 
sequent ages. Haitian, Middle Ages, ii. 2. 
(c) A proclamation made at the head of a body 
of troops, or in the cantonments of an army, by 
beat of drum or sound of trumpet, to announce 
the appointment of an officer or the punishment 
of a soldier, to enforce discipline, etc. in mod- 
ern times these proclamations are published in the writ- 
ten orders of the day. 
2. A proclamation or notice given in a church 
of an intended marriage : generally used in the 
plural, bans, usually spelled banns (which see). 
3. An edict of interdiction; a sentence of 
outlawry. Thus, to put a prince under the ban of the 
empire was to divest him of his dignities, and to interdict 
all intercourse and all offices of humanity with the offend- 
er. Sometimes whole cities have been put under the ban, 
that is, deprived of their rights and privileges_. 
4. Interdiction; authoritative prohibition. 5. 
A formal ecclesiastical denunciation; curse; 
excommunication; anathema. 6. A maledic- 
tion; expression of execration ; curse. 
Her fyrie eyes with furious sparkes did stare, 
And with blasphemous tonnes high God in peeces tare. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. vii. 39. 
Clump of Giant Bamboo (Dendrocalamus gigantens 
soides, which produces an edible, fleshy, pear-shaped fruit 
from 3 to 5 inches long. The same species, as also some 
.. r r . , _ . others, yields the tabasheer (which see), a secretion in the 
II intrans. To use trickery; practise cheating, joints, mainly silicious, which is used as a medicine. 
bamboozler (bam-bo'zler), n. One who bam- Bambusicdla (bam-bu-sik'o-la), n. [NL., < 
boozles ; a cheat ; one who plays tricks upon bambusa, bamboo, + L. colere, inhabit.] A ge- ,.. , . . ., 
another. nus of gallinaceous birds of Asia, the bamboo- 7 A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a 
There are a set of fellows they call banterers and bam- partridges. B. thoracica is a Chinese species ; d e imq uen t for offending against a ban. 8. A 
boozlers, that play such tricks ]B. sonorivox is found in Formosa. mulct paid to the bishop, in addition to other 
Arbuthnot, John Bull (1765), p. 58. bambusicoline (bam-bu-sik'o-lm), a. [< NL. . ,_ !it _ 
bambosh (bam'bosh), . [< bam + bosh, prob. bambuxifulinus, < bambusa, bamboo, + L. colere, 
with ref. to bamboozle.'] Humbug. [Slang.] inhabit: see -ine 1 .] Inhabiting cane-brakes; 
N. E. D. living in bamboo-grass: said of sundry animals, 
bamboula (bam-bo'la), . [Creole P., < F. as certain partridges, rats, etc. 
bambou, bamboo.] 1. A small drum consist- bamia (ba'mi-a), n. A fish of the family Silu- 
ing of a section of bamboo covered at one end rida', taken in'the Red Sea. In a dried state 
with sheepskin, formerly in use among slaves jt i s much used as food by sailors, 
in Louisiana. 2. A dance performed to the bamlite (bam'lit), n. [< Bamle + -ite 1 .] A va- 
accompaniment of such a drum. riety of fibrolite from Bamle, Norway. 
penalties, for certain crimes connected with sa- 
, ' , . cred things, chiefly sacrilege and perjury. 
Inhabiting cane-brakes ; b 2 f n. [Croatian ban = Bulg. Serv. bar,, 
,. nnM f\f QllTlHl\7 QTlllYinlM w*** \ ""/! L c -. .' 
Hung, ban, < Pers. ban, a lord, master.] A 
title formerly given to the military chiefs who 
guarded the southern marches of Hungary (the 
Banat), but now only to the governor of Croatia 
and Slavonia, who is appointed by the emperor 
of Austria as king of Hungary, and is respon- 
sible to the landtag of Croatia and Slavonia. 
' 
Bambusa (bam-bu'sa), . [NL., th"!? 11 D - ban 1 (ban), v. ; pret. .and pp. banned, ppr. banning. fe 3 b } , & banana^ A fine sort of 
c., < E. Ind. bambu: see f < M E. bannen, < AS.bannan, bonnan, summon, ^.^ JJ*^ ^ ^ agt j,^ from the leaf . 
bamboes, G. bambus, etc. , L . , . 
bamboo.'] A genus of arborescent grasses, of m C omp. dbannan, summon, gebannan, summon 
the tribe -Bamfeitsere (which see), of about 25 well- command, proclaim, = OFries. banna, bonna, 
known species, command, proclaim, = OD. bannen, prohibit, 
natives of south- moc i. j). banish, exile, exorcise, trump, = OHG. 
ern and eastern bannan, MHG. G. bannen, banish, expel, exor- 
stalk fibers of the banana. 
banal 1 (ban'al), a. [Formerly also bannal, < 
F. bannal (Cbtgrave), now banal = Pr. banal, 
< ML. bannalis, pertaining to compulsory feu- 
* ' service : applied especially to mills, wells, 
in common by people of the 
Asia, one species cigei = l oe l. banna, forbid, curse, refl. swear, = t ' CUI1U11U11 UJ , ^^ _ ^ 
only being cos- Sw . 6<mno> reprO ve, chide, refl. curse, swear, = lower ' clas ^ es upon the command of a feudal 
rpec^thTcom^ ^^^^ a ^ttS2e' superior ;hence, P common, commonplace; <&,,- 
bamboo J) mil- recorded), orig. appar. proclaim o ice, num command proclamation: see ban^, .] 
alty,' prob. akin to L. fan, say, speak (> ult. 
nowhere 
as iudige- 
i, Bamboo (Bambusa vttlgaris), show- 
ing its mode of growth ; 2, flowers, leaves, 
and stem on a larger scale. 
yons, 
known 
notiSj but is natural- 
ized in many places, 
and is cultivated 
extensively in the 
old world, the West 
Indies, and South 
America, Some of 
the species are spi- 
nose at the joints, 
others are climbers. 
The steins attain a 
height of 20, 50, or 
even 120 feet, with 
a diameter, in the 
larger species, of 
from 4 to 8 inches. 
The uses that are 
made of the stems 
and leaves of the 
various species of 
bamboo in the East 
1. Subject to manorial rights; used in com- 
i, a banal mill or oven. See banal- 
Common; commonplace; hackneyed; 
BilllltJ. l Mf ,iii. vciw i/i*'t'-t'' t/j o.ijjjjjui-Mj t4.*j j.-v/ nnyinty no*< \ti. u., 
claim, banish, is formally from the noun: see banal 2 (ban'al), a. [< 6ai 2 + -al.~\ 
banish. The sense of 'curse 'is appar. due to taining to a ban, or provincial gc 
Scand.use.] I. trans. If. To summon; call out. the royal banal court at Agram. See 6n 2 . 
- ,. m . , ,, 100 iimcii 01 what [England] gives us from her painters 
make appear, show, shine, bkt. -/ ona, appear, of modern llfe i9 familiar, tawdry, banal. 
shine. The ML. verb bannire, summon, pro- Fortnightly Rev. (N. S.), XXXIII. 76. 
] Of or per- 
governor: as, 
iyal banal court at Agram. See ban 2 . 
banality (ba-nal'i-ti), n. ; pi. banalities (-tiz). 
[< F. banalM, < banal: see banal 1 .'] 1. In old 
French and French-Canadian law, the right by 
which a lord compelled his vassals to grind at 
his mill, bake at his oven, etc. : applied also to 
the regions within which this right was exer- 
He . . . bannede his cnihtes. Layamon, I. 324. 
Pharaon bannede vt his here. Gen. and Ex., L 3213. 
2. To anathematize; pronounce an ecclesias- 
tical curse upon; place under a ban. 
It is hard to admire the man [Henry VIII.] who was 
burning and bannin/f Lutherans at home, while he was 
trying to ally himself with them abroad. 
cised. 2. The state of being banal, trite, or 
K. w.Dixon, Hist. Church of Eng., iii. gt ^ le; comm onplaceness ; triviality. 3. Any- 
Indies and eastern 
Asia are innumerable. Houses and their furniture, the 
musts, sails, and rigging of ships, rafts, bridges, fences, 
carts, palanquins, water-pipes, cordage, paper, boxes, bas- 
kets, mats, pipe-stems, and in fact nearly all articles of or- 
dinary use, are made entirely or in part from this material. 
The seeds and young shoots are used as food, and the leaves 
furnish fodder for cattle. 
bambusaceous (bam-bu-sa'shius), a. [< Bam- 
busa + -aceous.] Resembling the bamboo ; be- 
longing to the gramineous tribe Bambusece. 
BambuseaB (bam-bu' se-e), n.pl. [NL.,< Bambu- 
sa + -con.'] A tribe of grasses, of great economic 
importance, including nearly 200 species in 
about 20 genera, of which Bambusa (which see) 
may be considered the type. They are mostly con- 
fined to the warmer regions of the globe, though some are ban 1 (ban), n. [< Mt. ban, banne, bane; partly 
there foundatanaltitudeoffromlo,oootol6,000feetabove identical with iban, < AS. gebann, proclamation, 
the sea. They are gregarious in habit, and have woody, 
tall, and often arborescent stems, hollow between the 
joints, the taller species reaching an extreme height of 120 
feet, with a diameter of 6 or 8 inches. Most of the species 
flower but rarely, but the flowering of any species, when 
it occurs, is usually general, and the consequent harvest 
3. To curse ; execrate. 
Here upon my knees, striking the earth, 
I ban their souls to everlasting pains. 
Marlowe, Jew of Malta, i. 2. 
He cursed and bamied the Christians. Knolles. 
4. To prohibit; interdict; proscribe. 
The religion of the immense majority . . . was banned 
and proscribed. 
Leclcy, Rationalism (1878), II. 41. (&. E. D.) 
Working his best with beads and cross to ban 
The enemy that comes in like a flood. 
Browning, Ring and Book, I. 46. 
II. intrans. To curse ; utter curses or male- 
dictions. 
And curst, and band, and blasphemies forth threw. 
Spenser, F. Q., V. xi. 
12. 
decree, = (without prefix) OS. ban = OFries. 
ban, ban = OD. ban = OHG. MHG. ban, bann, 
G. bann, proclamation (of command or prohibi- 
tion), = Icel. bann = Sw. bann = Dan. ban, band, 
of seed has at time? prevented famine in India. The prohibition interdict, excommunication; and 
bamboos of tropical America belong to several genera partly (in the form ban, bane) <, O* . ban = i*r. 
(chiefly Arthnstylidium, Chusqiiea, and Guadua), some Jan = Sp. Pg. It. bando, < ML. bannum, bannus, 
species attaining nearly the size of those of the old world, also 0(m dum, proclamation, summons, edict, 
the genus Guadua scarcely differing from Bambusa. Sev- . , . 7 nr .; f ,\. mf .t *i-^rtiiiv,inof^ 
eral of the Indian genera are berfy-bearing, the species proscription, banishment, excommunication, 
most remarkable in this respect being Melocanna bambtt- etc., from the Teut. (OHG.) form, which IS from 
thing common, trite, or trivial ; a commonplace. 
He has a good sense that enables him to see through 
the banalities of English political life and to shrink from 
involving his own existence in such littleness. 
Lanier, The English Novel, p. 253. 
banana (ba-nan'a), n. [Also formerly banana 
(tree) ; = F. banane, < Sp. Pg. banana, the fruit 
of the banana-tree, Sp. banana (Pg. bananeira, 
F. bananier), the tree itself ; cited in the 16th 
century as the 
native name in 
Guinea, but the 
plant is prob- 
ably a native 
of the East In- 
dies.] An endo- 
genous plant of 
the genus Mu- 
sa, M. sapien- 
tum, now culti- 
vated for its fruit 
everywhere in 
the tropics. The 
stem - like trunk, 
formed of the com- 
pact sheathing leaf- 
stalks, grows to a 
Banana (Kfusa sapienttmt). height usually of 8 
