Dictionary

banyan day en · NOUN

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (UK, dated, idiomatic) In British naval tradition, a day of the week when galley kitchens served no meat on board ship.
   • 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. (UK, idiomatic) A picnic or cookout for the ship's crew.

Forms

Relateds

Daily routine on HMS Victory