Musa \Mu"sa\, n.; pl. Mus[ae]. [NL., fr. Ar. mauz, mauza, banana.]

(Bot.) A genus of perennial, herbaceous, endogenous plants of great size, including the banana (Musa sapientum), the plantain (M. paradisiaca of Linn[ae]us, but probably not a distinct species), the Abyssinian (M. Ensete), the Philippine Island (M. textilis, which yields Manila hemp), and about eighteen other species. See Illust. of Banana and Plantain.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)