taipan

[ tahy-pan ]

/ ˈtaɪ pæn /

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noun

(in China) the head or owner of a foreign business establishment.

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Origin of taipan

1895–1900; <dialectal Chinese (compare Guangdong dial. daaih-bāan), akin to Chinese dàbǎn (dà great + bǎn company, class)

Words nearby taipan

Taine, Taíno, taint, tainted, taintless, taipan, Taipei, Taiping, Taira, Taisho, T'ai Tsu

Other definitions for taipan (2 of 2)

taipan²

[ tahy-pan ]

/ ˈtaɪ pæn /

noun

a highly venomous elapid snake, Oxyuranus scutellatus, of New Guinea and northern Australia, that grows to a length of from 10 to 12 feet (3.1 to 3.7 meters).

Origin of taipan

First recorded in 1930–35; from Wik-Munkan (an Australian Aboriginal language spoken around the Archer River, northern Queensland), recorded as tay-pan

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use taipan in a sentence

He was the biggest Taipan on the island, and quite the nicest.
From Sea to Sea|Rudyard Kipling
I sought a Taipan, which means the head of an English trading firm.
From Sea to Sea|Rudyard Kipling

British Dictionary definitions for taipan (1 of 2)

taipan¹

/ (ˈtaɪˌpæn) /

noun

a large highly venomous elapid snake, Oxyuranus scutellatus, of NE Australia

Word Origin for taipan

C20: from a native Australian language

British Dictionary definitions for taipan (2 of 2)

taipan²

/ (ˈtaɪˌpæn) /

noun

the foreign head of a business in China

Word Origin for taipan

C19: from dialectal form of Chinese tai great + ban company, class

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012