n. [ Skr. banij merchant. The tree was so named by the English, because used as a market place by the merchants. ] 1. A Hindu trader, merchant, cashier, or money changer. [ Written also banyan. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A man's loose gown, like that worn by the Banians. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) The Indian fig. See Banyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Banished p. pr. & vb. n. Banishing. ] [ OF. banir, F. bannir, LL. bannire, fr. OHG. bannan to summon, fr. ban ban. See Ban an edict, and Finish, v. t. ] 1. To condemn to exile, or compel to leave one's country, by authority of the ruling power. “We banish you our territories.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To drive out, as from a home or familiar place; -- used with from and out of. [ 1913 Webster ]

How the ancient Celtic tongue came to be banished from the Low Countries in Scotland. Blair. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To drive away; to compel to depart; to dispel. “Banish all offense.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Banish, Exile, Expel. The idea of a coercive removal from a place is common to these terms. A man is banished when he is forced by the government of a country (be he a foreigner or a native) to leave its borders. A man is exiled when he is driven into banishment from his native country and home. Thus to exile is to banish, but to banish is not always to exile. To expel is to eject or banish summarily or authoritatively, and usually under circumstances of disgrace; as, to expel from a college; expelled from decent society. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who banishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. bannissement. ] The act of banishing, or the state of being banished. [ 1913 Webster ]

He secured himself by the banishment of his enemies. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Round the wide world in banishment we roam. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Expatriation; ostracism; expulsion; proscription; exile; outlawry. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A corruption of baluster. ] 1. A baluster. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (sing. or pl.) The balustrade of a staircase. Formerly used in this sense mostly in the plural, now mostly in the singular. [ Also spelled bannister. ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

He struggled to ascend the pulpit stairs, holding hard on the banisters. Sir W. Scott.