Definition of "banyan"

banyan

/ˈbæn.jən/

noun
plural banyans
1. An Indian trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer.
2. A tropical Indian fig tree, Ficus benghalensis, that has many aerial roots.
  Quotations
  We climb and then descend; we pass by the great banyan which, like Atlas, settling himself powerfully on his contorted haunches, seems awaiting with knee and shoulder the burden of the sky.
  1914, Teresa Frances, William Rose Benét, The East I Know, translation of original by Paul Claudel, page 33
3. A type of loose gown worn in India.
4. (India) A vest; an undershirt; a singlet.
5. (Britain, naval slang, dated) A camping excursion on shore, to give a ship's crew a break from shipboard routine.