banyan

banyan

See also: banyán and bànyǎn

English

WOTD – 23 February 2009

Ficus benghalensis

Wikispecies

Alternative forms

• banian, bannian

Etymology

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.[1] Doublet of bunnia.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈbæn.jən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

banyan (plural banyans)

1. An Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer.
2. A tropical Indian fig tree, Ficus benghalensis, that has many aerial roots.
   • 1914, Teresa Frances & William Rose Benét, The East I Know, translation of original by Paul Claudel, page 33:

     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.

3. A type of loose gown worn in India.
4. (India) A vest; an undershirt; a singlet.
5. (Britain, naval slang, dated) A camping excursion on shore, to give a ship's crew a break from shipboard routine.

Synonyms

• (tropical Indian fig tree): banyan tree

Derived terms

• banyan day
• banyan fight

 

Translations

Indian trader, merchant

Chinese: Mandarin: 印度商人 (Yìndù shāngrén) Danish: please add this translation if you can Finnish: intialainen kaupustelija French: commerçant indien m Portuguese: baniano m, baniane m Spanish: please add this translation if you can Swahili: baniani

tropical Indian fig tree

Bislama: nabanga Catalan: banià m Chinese: Mandarin: 榕 (zh) (róng), 榕樹／榕树 (zh) (róngshù) Czech: banyán m Danish: please add this translation if you can Dhivehi: ބަންޔަން‎ (ban̊yan̊) Finnish: banianviikuna, banian French: banian (fr) m Gujarati: વડ (gu) m (vaḍ) Hindi: बरगत m (bargat), बरगद (hi) m (bargad), बड़ (hi) m (baṛ), बट (hi) m (baṭ), वट (hi) m (vaṭ) Hungarian: indiai füge Indonesian: beringin (id) c Kannada: ಆಲದ (ālada) Korean: 반얀 (banyan) Lao: ໂພ (phō) Malagasy: monoko (mg) Malay: jejawi Malayalam: ആൽമരം (ālmaraṃ) Marathi: वड m (vaḍ) Oriya: ବରଗଛ (bôrôgôchô) Polish: banian (pl) m, figowiec bengalski m Portuguese: figueira-de-bengala f Punjabi: ਬੋਹੜ (pa) (bohaṛ) Romanian: banian (ro) m Russian: банья́н (ru) m (banʹján), баниа́н (ru) m (banián) Sanskrit: वट (sa) (vaṭa), न्यग्रोध (sa) m (nyagrodha) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: бањан m Roman: banjan m Spanish: baniano (es) m Tagalog: balete, balite, baliti Tamil: ஆலமரம் (ta) (ālamaram), ஆல் (ta) (āl) Telugu: మర్రి (te) (marri) Thai: ไทร (th) (sai) Tocharian B: nigrot Urdu: برگت‎ m (bargat), برگد‎ m (bargad), بڑ‎ m (baṛ), بٹ‎ m (baṭ), وٹ‎ m (vaṭ) Vietnamese: đa (vi)

type of loose gown worn in India

Chinese: Mandarin: 睡袍 (shuìpáo), 晨衣 (chényī) Danish: please add this translation if you can Finnish: banyan French: please add this translation if you can Portuguese: baniana f Spanish: please add this translation if you can

See also

• Banyan#Etymology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Banyan in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

References

1. Yule, Henry, Sir. Hobson-Jobson (1903) A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive.‎, London: J. Murray