banana republic

English

Etymology

Coinedby American authorO. Henryin 1901 in his short storyMoney Maze,set in the fictional "Anchuria", which was based on his 1896–97 stay inHonduras.

Pronunciation

• Audio(General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

bananarepublic(pluralbanana republics)

1. (politics,idiomatic,derogatory)A smallcountry,especially one inCentral Americaor theWest Indies,that is dependent on a singleexportcommodity(traditionallybananas) and that has acorrupt,dictatorialgovernment.

   Hypernym:kleptocracy

   Near-synonym:republiqueta

   • 1901May, O. Henry, “Money Maze”, inAinslee's Magazine‎^[1],volume vii, number 4, New York, page305:

     At that time we had a treaty with about every foreign country except Belgium, and thatbanana republic,Anchuria.

   • 2001,Cindy Forster,The Time of Freedom: Campesino Workers in Guatemala's October Revolution,University of Pittsburgh Press,→ISBN,page117:

     The banana workers of this formerbanana republicwere exceptionally well organized and effective in their demands from the very beginning of the revolution.

   • 2007September 10, Marcel Berlins, “Media have rushed to judge Portuguese police”, inThe Guardian‎^[2]:

     The McCanns,it is hinted and sometimes expressed explicitly, cannot possibly be treated fairly under this inadequate Portuguese system. There is a touch of arrogantxenophobiahere, as if Portugal was some backwardbanana republic[…]

Translations

country

• Afrikaans:piesangrepubliek(af)
• Arabic:جُمْهُورِيَّة الْمَوْزِf(jumhūriyyat al-mawzi)
• Armenian:ադամաթզենու հանրապետություն(adamatʻzenu hanrapetutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani:banan respublikası
• Basque:banana errepublika
• Breton:republik ar bananezf
• Bulgarian:бананова републикаf(bananova republika)
• Catalan:república bananera(ca)f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Hương tiêu cộng hòa quốc／Hương tiêu cộng hòa quốc(zh)(xiāngjiāo gònghéguó)

• Czech:banánová republikaf
• Danish:bananrepublikc,bananstatc
• Dutch:bananenrepubliek(nl)m
• Esperanto:bananrespubliko
• Estonian:banaanivabariik(et)
• Finnish:banaanivaltio(fi),banaanitasavalta(fi)
• French:république bananière(fr)f
• Galician:república bananeira(gl)f
• Georgian:ბანანის რესპუბლიკა(bananis resṗubliḳa)
• German:Bananenrepublik(de)f
• Greek:μπανανία(el)f(bananía)
• Hebrew:רֶפּוּבְּלִיקַת בָּנָנוֹת(he)f(repúblikat banánot)
• Hungarian:banánköztársaság(hu)
• Icelandic:bananalýðveldin
• Indonesian:republik pisang
• Italian:repubblica delle bananef
• Japanese:バナナ cộng hòa quốc(バナナきょうわこく, banana kyōwakoku)
• Korean:바나나 공화국(banana gonghwaguk)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish:کۆمارا مووزان(komara mûzan)

  Northern Kurdish:komara mûzan(ku)

• Latvian:banānu republikaf
• Lithuanian:bananinė respublikaf
• Macedonian:банана републикаf(banana republika),банана-држава(banana-država)
• Malagasy:fanjakan' i Baroa(mg),fanjakana baroa(mg)
• Malay:republik pisang
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:bananrepublikkm

  Nynorsk:bananrepublikkm

• Persian:جمهوری موزی(jomhuri muzi)
• Polish:republika bananowa(pl)f
• Portuguese:república das bananasf
• Romanian:republică bananierăf
• Russian:бана́новая респу́блика(ru)f(banánovaja respúblika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic:бана́на репу̀бликаf,бана́на-др̀жаваf

  Roman:banána repùblikaf,banána-dr̀žavaf

• Slovak:banánová republikaf
• Slovene:bananska republikaf,banana republikaf
• Spanish:república bananeraf
• Swedish:bananrepublik(sv)c
• Tatar:банан республикасы(banan respublikası)
• Thai:สาธารณรัฐกล้วย
• Turkish:muz cumhuriyeti(tr)
• Ukrainian:бананова республікаf(bananova respublika)
• Urdu:جمہوریہ کیلا
• Vietnamese:cộng hoà chuối
• Welsh:gweriniaeth fananaf
• West Frisian:bananerepublykc

Further reading

• banana republicon Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowingfromEnglishbanana republic.

Noun

banana republicf(invariable)

1. (rare,politics,idiomatic,derogatory)banana republic

   Synonym:repubblica delle banane