taipan

1 of 2

noun (1)

tai·​pan ˈtī-ˌpan  ˈtī-ˈpän 

: a powerful businessman and especially formerly a foreigner living and operating in Hong Kong or China

taipan

2 of 2

noun (2)

tai·​pan ˈtī-ˌpan 

: an exceedingly venomous elapid snake (Oxyuranus scutellatus) of northern Australia and New Guinea

also : either of two related snakes (O. microlepidotus and O. temporalis)

Examples of taipan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Another version of the story has Jardine Matheson's taipan being greeted by a 21-gun salute, to the horror of the local military who reserve that tradition for high ranking officers. —CNN, 8 June 2021

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Chinese (Guangdong) daaih-bāan, from daaih big + bāan class

Noun (2)

Wik Munkan (Australian aboriginal language of northern Queensland) dhayban

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1834, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1933, in the meaning defined above