banyans

1. an Indian fig tree, the branches of which produce wide-ranging aerial roots which later become accessory trunks.
2. a loose flannel undergarment worn in India.

late 16th century: from Portuguese, from Gujarati vāṇiyo ‘man of the trading caste’, from Sanskrit. Originally denoting a Hindu merchant, the term was applied, by Europeans in the mid 17th century, to a tree under which such traders had built a pagoda.