WordNet Dictionary- [n] a loose fitting jacket; originally worn in India
- [n] East Indian tree that puts out aerial shoots that grow down into the soil forming additional trunks
Webster's 1913 Dictionary\Ban"ian\, n. [Skr. banij merchant. The tree was so named
by the English, because used as a market place by the
merchants.]
1. A Hindoo trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer.
[Written also {banyan}.]
2. A man's loose gown, like that worn by the Banians.
3. (Bot.) The Indian fig. See {Banyan}.
{Banian days} (Naut.), days in which the sailors have no
flesh meat served out to them. This use seems to be
borrowed from the Banians or Banya race, who eat no flesh.