n.
Pronunciation: ' ban-y ə n, -yan
Function: noun
Etymology: earlier banyan Gujarati trader, from Portuguese banean, probably from Tamil v ā niyan trader, from Sanskrit v ā ṇ ija; from a tree of the species in Iran under which such traders conducted business
Date: 1634
: an East Indian fig tree ( Ficus benghalensis ) of the mulberry family with branches that send out roots which grow down to the soil and form secondary trunks
banyan