banyan
Syllables: ban·yanUK/ˈbæn.jæn/
banyan noun: an Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer.
Noun
banyan (plural banyans)
- An Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer.
- A tropical Indian fig tree, Ficus benghalensis, that has many aerial roots.
- When doubling a point, which was covered with a heavy growth of the banian mangrove, which extended into deep water, we discovered a party of Kubu Orangs fishing from off a pack of drift that had lodged against the inward trend of the northern shore.1879, [R. Elton Smile [pseudonym; Elton Romeo Smilie]], “[Letter dated March 18th, 1878]”, in Investigations and Experience of M. Shawtinbach, at Saar Soong, Sumatra. […
- We climb and then descend; we pass by the great banyan which, like Atlas, settling himself powerfully on his contorted haunches, seems awaiting with knee and shoulder the burden of the sky.1914, Teresa Frances, William Rose Benét, The East I Know, translation of original by Paul Claudel, page 33
- Synonyms:
- banyan tree
- Various other trees of the Ficus subgenus Urostigma, especially Ficus pertusa (Central American banyan) and Ficus microcarpa (Chinese banyan or Malayan banyan).
- A type of loose gown worn in India.
- A vest; an undershirt; a singlet.
- It was an honest letter, written by an honest man, then stewing in the Plains on two hundred rupees a month (for he allowed his wife eight hundred and fifty), and in a silk banian and cotton trousers.1889, Rudyard Kipling, “At the Pit's Mouth”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 50
- A camping excursion on shore, to give a ship's crew a break from shipboard routine.
Proper noun capitalized: Banyan
Banyan
banyan meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
banyan in Hindi
- tropical South Asian fig tree
- बरगत bargat, बरगद bargad, बड़ baṛ, बट baṭ, वट vaṭ
banyan in Tamil
- tropical South Asian fig tree
- ஆலமரம் ālamaram, ஆல் āl
- type of loose gown worn in the Indian subcontinent
- பனியன் paṉiyaṉ
banyan in Marathi
- tropical South Asian fig tree
- वड vaḍ
banyan in Urdu
- tropical South Asian fig tree
- برگد bargad, برگت bargat, بڑ baṛ, بٹ baṭ, وٹ vaṭ
More languagesFewer languages
- banyan in Telugu
- మర్రి marri
- banyan in Malayalam
- പേരാൽ pērāl
- banyan in Kannada
- ಆಲದ ālada
- banyan in Punjabi
- ਬੋਹੜ bohaṛ, بوڑھ boṛh, بوہَڑ bohaṛ
- banyan in Gujarati
- વડ vaḍ
- banyan in Odia
- ବରଗଛ baragacha
- banyan in Sanskrit
- वट vaṭa, न्यग्रोध nyagrodha
- banyan in Tagalog
- balete, balite, baliti
- banyan in Malay
- jejawi
- banyan in Indonesian
- beringin
- banyan in Persian
- انجیر بنگالی anjir-e bangāli, لور levar
- banyan in Thai
- ไทร sai
- banyan in Vietnamese
- đa
- Dhivehi
- ނިކަ nika
Synonyms of banyan
Forms of banyan
| plural | banyans |
|---|---|
| alternative form (archaic) | banian |
| alternative form (obsolete) | bannian |
Origin of banyan
From Portuguese baniano, from Arabic بَنِيَان (baniyān), from Gujarati વાણિયો (vāṇiyo, “merchant”), from Sanskrit वाणिज (vāṇijá), from earlier वणिज् (vaṇíj, “merchant, trader”). The name appears to have been first bestowed popularly on a famous tree of this species growing near Bandar Abbas, under which the Bannians, or Hindu traders settled at that port, had built a little pagoda. Doublet of bunnia.
Words formed from banyan
Phrases with banyan
Words that rhyme with banyan
Questions about banyan
- What does banyan mean?
- Banyan means an Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer.
- What is banyan in Hindi?
- Banyan in Hindi is बरगत (bargat), बरगद (bargad), बड़ (baṛ). See Banyan meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is banyan?
- Banyan can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce banyan?
- Banyan is pronounced /ˈbæn.jæn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of banyan?
- The plural of banyan is banyans.
Words near banyan in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: banyan (page history and authors); Banyan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-banyan.ogg.
Cite this entry: “banyan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/banyan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.