Adjacent Words

banyan definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: East Indian tree that puts out aerial shoots that grow down into the soil forming additional trunks [syn: banyan, banyan tree, banian, banian tree, Indian banyan, East Indian fig tree, Ficus bengalensis]
2: a loose fitting jacket; originally worn in India [syn: banyan, banian]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: earlier banyan Gujarati trader, from Portuguese banean, probably from Tamil v?niyan trader, from Sanskrit v??ija; from a tree of the species in Iran under which such traders conducted business Date: 1634 an East Indian fig tree (Ficus benghalensis) of the mulberry family with branches that send out roots which grow down to the soil and form secondary trunks

Britannica Concise

Unusually shaped tree (Ficus benghalensis, or F. indica) of the fig genus in the mulberry family, native to tropical Asia. Aerial roots that develop from its branches descend and take root in the soil to become new trunks. The banyan reaches a height of up to 100 ft (30 m) and spreads laterally indefinitely. One tree may in time assume the appearance of a very dense thicket as a result of the tangle of roots and trunks.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (also banian) 1 an Indian fig tree, Ficus benghalensis, the branches of which hang down and root themselves. 2 a Hindu trader. 3 a loose flannel jacket, shirt, or gown worn in India. Etymology: Port. banian f. Gujarati vaniyo man of trading caste, f. Skr.: applied orig. to one such tree under which banyans had built a pagoda

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Banian Ban"ian, n. [Skr. banij merchant. The tree was so named by the English, because used as a market place by the merchants.] 1. A Hindoo trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer. [Written also banyan.] 2. A man's loose gown, like that worn by the Banians. 3. (Bot.) The Indian fig. See Banyan. Banian days (Naut.), days in which the sailors have no flesh meat served out to them. This use seems to be borrowed from the Banians or Banya race, who eat no flesh.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Banyan Ban"yan, n. [See Banian.] (Bot.) A tree of the same genus as the common fig, and called the Indian fig (Ficus Indica), whose branches send shoots to the ground, which take root and become additional trunks, until it may be the tree covers some acres of ground and is able to shelter thousands of men.