taipan

¹ American  

[tahy-pan] / ˈtaɪ pæn /

noun

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

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taipan ² American  

[tahy-pan] / ˈtaɪ pæn /

noun

1. 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).

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taipan ¹ British  

/ ˈtaɪˌpæn /

noun

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

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taipan ² British  

/ ˈtaɪˌpæn /

noun

1. the foreign head of a business in China

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Etymology

Origin of taipan¹

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

Origin of taipan²

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

taipan

How many people could die from the venom in a single taipan bite?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

The starry voice cast includes Eric Bana as the zookeeper, Isla Fisher as a taipan, Tim Minchin as a koala, Guy Pearce as a funnel web spider and Keith Urban as a cane toad.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 6, 2021

Mtoxins even helped researchers reclassify the world’s most venomous snake from the inland taipan - which Frank keeps in Oshkosh - to the Malaysian blue coral snake.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 20, 2021

The hospital ward, which might be treating as many as eight taipan victims at any time, is often the only place in the country with antivenom drugs.

From Nature ● Aug. 29, 2016

“The blue-ringed octopus, the marbled cone snail, the inland taipan snake, and...uh...the deathstalker scorpion.”

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

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