Lexic.us

Definition of Banyan

1. Noun. East Indian tree that puts out aerial shoots that grow down into the soil forming additional trunks.

Definition of Banyan

1. n. 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.

Definition of Banyan

1. Noun. An Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer. ¹

2. Noun. A tropical Indian fig tree, ''Ficus benghalensis'', that has many aerial roots. ¹

3. Noun. A type of loose gown worn in India. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Banyan

1. an East Indian tree [n -S]

Medical Definition of Banyan

1. 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. See: Banian. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Banyan

Literary usage of Banyan

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Commercial, Industrial by Edward Balfour (1871)
"banyan THEE is the Ficus Indica, tb* Bar-ka jhar of Southern India the Arbor de Rai* of the Portuguese. It throws down aerial roots, which support the ..."

2. The Metaphysical Magazine by Harry Houdini Collection (Library of Congress) (1905)
"The banyan-fig is half an inch in diameter, the pipal three eighths of an inch—Both are eaten ... The bark of the pipal is white, that of the banyan dark. ..."

3. The Message of the Trees: An Anthology of Leaves and Branches by William Stanley Braithwaite, Maud Cuney-Hare (1918)
"THE banyan TREE The traveller in the South may see A large wide-spreading banyan tree; The ivies with a loving hold The trunk and drooping limbs enfold; ..."

4. Poems: And Poems of California and the West by Benjamin Franklin Field (1904)
"Hearts for thy embrace are beating, Never Lesbos better knew That the Muses' favor, fleeting, Is for those that sail to you. THE banyan TREE ..."

5. Things Indian: Being Discursive Notes on Various Subjects Connected with India by William Crooke (1906)
"Two species of the genus ficus, or the fig—the banyan (ficus ... The banyan with its numerous stems was fitly regarded as the home of gods and spirits. ..."

6. Curiosities for the Ingenious: Selected from the Most Authentic Treasures of (1822)
"The banyan Tree. THE tree, which by the English in the west of India is called the banyan tree, by the Portuguese Arbor de rails, and by the Malays Jawee ..."

7. Ceylon: An Account of the Island, Physical, Historical, and Topographical by James Emerson Tennent (1859)
"Ill.] banyan TREE. 96 natives of Coorg, like those of Ceylon, manufacture an ingenious substitute for sacks by a process which is described by Mr. Nimmo. ..."

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