taipan meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

taipan

noun

UK /ˈtaɪpæn/

Etymology From Wik-Mungkan tay-pan (or dhayban).

Any venomous elapid snake of the genus Oxyuranus, found in Australia and New Guinea.

Derived terms: Central Ranges taipan, coastal taipan, inland taipan, western taipan, Papuan taipan

noun

Etymology From Cantonese 大班 (daai⁶ baan¹, “big shot, rich businessman”), originally as taepan. Related to tycoon, from Japanese 大君(たいくん) (taikun).

A foreign businessman in China; a tycoon.

Of course it was very sad, but the taipan could hardly help a smile when he thought how many of these young fellows he had drunk underground.1922, W. Somerset Maugham, The Taipan:
The British taipans stood in one sodden circle with their womenfolk, like bored officers at a garrison get-together.1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 438:

Philippines A tycoon (usually of Chinese Filipino background)