banyan

or ban·ian

[ ban-yuh n ]

/ ˈbæn yən /

noun

Also called banyan tree. an East Indian fig tree, Ficus benghalensis, of the mulberry family, having branches that send out adventitious roots to the ground and sometimes cause the tree to spread over a wide area.

Also bania, baniya. (in India)

a Hindu trader or merchant of a particular caste, the rules of which forbid eating flesh.
a loose shirt, jacket, or gown.

Nearby words

Origin of banyan

1590–1600; < Portuguese (perhaps < Arabic) < Gujarati vāṇiyo (singular) or vāṇiyā (plural) member of the merchant caste (compare Prakrit vāṇiaya, Sanskrit vāṇija trader); the tree is said to have taken its name from a particular tree of the species near which merchants had built a booth; source of final nasal uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for banyan

Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners, disagreed the acquisition was a desperate move.
Facebook’s ‘Desperate’ $19 Billion Gamble on WhatsApp|CNBC|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was aimed down here toward the banyan tree on December 28, 2009.
The Perils of Karachi|Steve Inskeep|October 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The ambulance parked by the banyan tree had a word in red on the side, in English and Urdu: “Edhi.”
The Perils of Karachi|Steve Inskeep|October 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST
In those glowing climes the Banyan was regarded as the tree of trees, and the mighty centre of vegetating life.
The Continental Monthly, Vol 2, No 6, December 1862|Various

In the fruit of the Banyan (fig-tree) are minute seeds innumerable.
Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol I. (of 3)|Charles Eliot
Many of those who used to bathe there have also followed into oblivion the shade of the banyan tree.
My Reminiscences|Rabindranath Tagore
The Banyan is safe enough not to lose, whether the speculation the trader is engaged upon pays or not.
How I Found Livingstone|Henry M. Stanley
It is a species of banyan (Ficus religiosa), and is called by the natives Ohwa.
Ten Thousand Wonderful Things|Edmund Fillingham King

British Dictionary definitions for banyan

banyan

banian

/ (ˈbænjən) /

noun

a moraceous tree, Ficus benghalensis, of tropical India and the East Indies, having aerial roots that grow down into the soil forming additional trunks

a member of the Hindu merchant caste of N and W India

a loose-fitting shirt, jacket, or robe, worn originally in India

Word Origin for banyan

C16: from Hindi baniyā, from Sanskrit vānija merchant

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for banyan

banyan

"Indian fig tree," 1630s, so called in reference to a tree on the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf under which the Hindu merchants known as banians had built a pagoda. From Sanskrit vanija "merchant."