Other forms: banters
Banter is light teasing talk between people who like each other. Friendly banter, exchange banter, dressing-room banter.
The liking is what makes it banter rather than insult, and it is only banter is the standard defence when that liking was not mutual. It is a strong marker of British and Irish speech. The origin of the word is unknown.
1nounbanterLight teasing talk between people who like each other.
“The two old friends kept up a friendly banter about football all through dinner.”
banter is a kind of talk.
First recorded in the 1670s and of unknown origin, possibly London street slang of the time.
Built from
1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as bant + -er. Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA