taipan

noun /ˈtaɪpæn/

1. 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.

2. A tycoon (usually of Chinese Filipino background)

Where it comes from

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).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry taipan (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← tainturetakhtrawan →

Another random word More words starting with T