banyan tree
1
6.5
- noun
- /ˈbæn.jən tri/
:
banyan
- Chattering grannies and grandpas come to the banyan tree-flanked courtyard in the afternoons for their regular chitchat party.
- an old banyan tree
- the shade of a banyan tree
- a huge banyan tree
Examples
-
I walked behind my father and brother and watched the villagers place her high up on a thick branch of a banyan tree, overlooking a patch of wild chamomile.
Fiction book (1997) -
The banyan tree towered above him; from its massive outspread branches, slender shoots reaching downward sought the ground.
Fiction book (1996) -
There is also an enormous banyan tree that kids love to climb.
Blog text (10) -
They're set up down the beach by the banyan trees.
-
After checking in, we took a short walk around the grounds of the hotel, checking out the beach and the huge banyan tree on the premises.
Blog text (23) -
In the upper reaches of a giant banyan tree, a kutturr bird called hoarsely to its mate.
Fiction book (1996) -
I tuck my shivering hands deep into my pockets and hunch under a massive banyan tree, keeping warm until the sun spills its first golden light onto the lake and surrounding hills.
Academic text (2003) -
They park the Camry and pass underneath a giant banyan tree, a tree (a helpful sign tells them) given to Edison when it was a twig by some financial giant.
Fiction book (1990) -
We pass banyan trees with roots like huge pythons coiling through the grass, and down-dropped stems from the far-spreading branches, making dim, leafy cloisters.
Blog text (22) -
Buddha is said to have achieved enlightenment sitting under a banyan tree.
Synonyms
3
8.7
A very large Indian fig tree that sends roots down from branches to form new trunks
A large fig tree that makes new trunks from hanging roots
A large Indian tree with roots that grow down into new trunks
A large Indian tree that grows new trunks from roots hanging down and spreads over a wide area
A large Indian tree that sends roots down from branches to form new trunks
A large Indian tree called the banyan whose roots grow down into the soil to form new trunks
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward noun + noun compound: 'banyan' names a particular kind of fig and 'tree' indicates it is a tree, so the combined meaning simply refers to that species. The composition is referential and follows common cross-linguistic naming patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can derive the meaning.
Etymology
Banyan tree is famous for its strange growth: long roots hang down from the branches and take root in the ground, so one tree becomes many trunks and a wide, shady canopy. That's why the banyan tree is often thought of as 'one tree that spreads like a small forest' or 'a big shady place'.