- Banana: a tropical plant of the genus Musa, certain species of which are cultivated for their nutritious fruit.
- Plantain: a tropical plant, Musa paradisiaca, of the banana family, resembling the banana.
Don’t you just love definitions like those?
Exhibit A: Banana. Exhibit B: Fruit that looks like a banana.
We may have to dive a bit further to determine the difference between bananas and plantains.