noun
banyan
BAN-yun/ˈbænjən/
A tropical fig tree with aerial roots that grow down into the ground.
The banyan's aerial roots descend from its spreading branches.
Etymology
The “merchant” connection comes from a particular fig tree near which Hindu traders known as banians had built a pagoda. That association gave the tree type its name.
In context
a strangler fig and a banyan are the same thing they are a tree that begins life high up on another tree lives apart from the soil for many years until it can drop a little root
More examples
- Several trunks supported the spreading banyan.
- Travelers rested beneath the banyan's broad canopy.
- A young banyan grew beside the temple.
Forms
banyan · banyans
Similar words
- fig
- A banyan is a kind of fig tree distinguished by its spreading aerial roots.
- prop root
- A prop root supports a plant; banyan names the tree that commonly develops them.