Dictionary

1taipan

noun tai·pan \ˈtī-ˌpan, ˈtī-ˈpän\

Definition of TAIPAN

:  a powerful businessman and especially formerly a foreigner living and operating in Hong Kong or China
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Origin of TAIPAN

Chinese (Guangdong) daaih-bāan, from daaih big + bāan class
First Known Use: 1834

2taipan

noun tai·pan \ˈtī-ˌpan\

Definition of TAIPAN

:  an exceedingly venomous elapid snake (Oxyuranus scutellatus) of northern Australia and New Guinea; also :  a related snake (O. microlepidotus)

Origin of TAIPAN

Wik Munkan (Australian aboriginal language of northern Queensland) dhayban
First Known Use: 1933

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