zaibatsu

American  

[zahy-bah-tsoo] / ˈzaɪ bɑˈtsu /

noun

1. a large industrial or financial conglomerate of Japan.

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zaibatsu British  

/ ˈzaɪbætˈsuː /

noun

1. (functioning as singular or plural) the group or combine comprising a few wealthy families that controls industry, business, and finance in Japan

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• zaibatsu
  plural

Etymology

Origin of zaibatsu

First recorded in 1935–40; from Japanese, equivalent to zai “wealth,” (from Middle Chinese dzoi, Mandarin Chinese cái ) + batsu “powerful clique” (from Middle Chinese bjot “powerful family,” Mandarin Chinese fá ); cf. chaebol ( def. )

Example Sentences

Mitsubishi became one of Japan’s first zaibatsu, family-owned business conglomerates with financial and industrial branches influential in Japanese politics.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

And that’s actually really similar to the Japanese zaibatsu model from the prewar times, which I find really interesting.

From The Verge • Apr. 10, 2020

The prewar zaibatsu cartels of Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Sumitomo were broken up under the U.S. occupation and supposedly have come together again only loosely.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Osaka zaibatsu even lent him money, with no attempt to dominate him.

From Time Magazine Archive

At the theoretical extreme, a handful of mutual-fund managers could become an American version of the Japanese zaibatsu, controlling much of the economy through their institutions' stock holdings.

From Time Magazine Archive