BANYAN

[ban.yan] n [earlier banyan Gujarati trader, fr. Pg banean, prob. fr. Tamil vaniyan trader, fr. Skt vanija; fr. a tree of the species in Iran under which such traders conducted business] (1634): an East Indian fig tree (Ficus benghalensis) of the mulberry family with branches that send out shoots which grow down to the soil and root to form secondary trunks