taipan
taipan Lexical Profile
taipan Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Australian Any of several large, highly venomous elapid snakes of the genus Oxyuranus, native to Australia and New Guinea, noted for their speed, agility, and extremely potent neurotoxic venom.
"The inland taipan is widely considered to possess the most toxic venom of any land snake in the world."
A powerful senior business executive, tycoon, or entrepreneur, especially a foreigner operating in China or Hong Kong.
"During the nineteenth century, British taipans controlled much of the lucrative trade flowing through the ports of Hong Kong."
Word Nuance & Usage
The word 'taipan' represents two completely unrelated concepts that happen to share the same English spelling: a highly venomous Australasian snake and a foreign business tycoon in East Asia.
• Rhymes for taipan
Word Origin & Etymology
A linguistic coincidence with two distinct origins. The snake is named from the Wik-Mungkan Aboriginal Australian word 'dhayban'. The business tycoon definition derives from the Cantonese 'daai6 baan1' (大班), meaning 'big class' or 'company boss', popularized by 19th-century foreign merchants in China.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.