[ban-yuh
n] 
| 1. | 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. |
| 2. | Also, bania, baniya. (in India)
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| ban·ian (bān'yən) n. Variant of banyan. |
| ban·yan also ban·ian (bān'yən) n. A tropical Indian fig tree (Ficus benghalensis), often widely spreading because of the many aerial roots that descend from the branches and develop into additional trunks. It is planted for ornament and shade. [Short for banyan tree, merchants' tree, from Portuguese banian, Hindu merchant, from Gujarati vāṇiyo, from Sanskrit vāṇijaḥ; see wen-1 in Indo-European roots.] |