Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several large brown venomous elapid snakes of the genus Oxyuranus of Australia and New Guinea, especially O. scutellatus.
- noun A powerful businessman in China or Southeast Asia.
- noun The head of a British trading company in colonial Hong Kong.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Wik-Mungkan (Pama-Nyungan language of northeast Australia) dhay-ban.]
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Cantonese daai6 baan1, eminent businessman, head of a firm, Cantonese, daai6, big, great (from Middle Chinese tɦaj`; also the source of Mandarin dà), Cantonese baan1, class (from Middle Chinese paʽn, division, class; see honcho).]
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tai·pan.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.