noun
taipan
TEYE-pan
noun
1
A foreign business executive or tycoon, especially historically in China.
"The old taipan ran his trading firm from a Hong Kong office overlooking the harbor."
2
Any of several highly venomous Australian snakes of the genus Oxyuranus.
"The inland taipan is considered the most venomous snake in the world."
How to Use Taipan
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither a powerful foreign businessman in old China, or a dangerous species of Australian snake — context makes it obvious which.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
taipans plural, taipans plural
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The old _____ ran his trading firm from a Hong Kong office overlooking the harbor.
Etymology
From Cantonese 大班 (daai⁶ baan¹, "big shot, head of a firm"), related to the word tycoon.