banyan day

noun

In British naval tradition, a day of the week when galley kitchens served no meat on board ship.

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Meanings

nounbanyan day (plural banyan days)

plural banyan days · alternative Banian day · alternative banian day

  1. UKdatedidiomaticnauticalIn British naval tradition, a day of the week when galley kitchens served no meat on board ship.
    1 more example

    This was a favourable circumstance in one respect to myself and the ship's company, for as Tuesday is a sumptuous day in point of allowance in the navy, beef and pudding being the prescribed fare for dinner, we by this accident feasted two days together; whereas had it occurred on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, two successive banyan (or starvation) days would have been our dismal portion.

    1819, James Hardy Vaux, Memoirs of James Hardy Vaux, Chapter XVIII, p. 204-205
  2. UKidiomaticnauticalA picnic or cookout for the ship's crew.

Origin

According to the OED, the term is borrowed from the Banyans in the East Indies, a caste that ate nothing that had life.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

banyan day. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/banyan%20day

MLA

“banyan day.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/banyan%20day. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “banyan day,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/banyan%20day.

Source: banyan day on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.