Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Chinese ·1830s
Taipan
from 大班 (dàbān)
- Meaning
- A senior foreign businessman in Hong Kong or old Shanghai.
- Source word
- 大班 (dàbān)
- Route into English
- Cantonese *daaihbāan* ("big class" or "big boss") → English via colonial-era Hong Kong trading houses. Fictionalised by James Clavell in his 1966 novel of the same name.
- Arrived
- 1830s
From Chinese
Trade English from the South China Sea ports (especially Hokkien-speaking Xiamen and Canton) seeded the early borrowings; 20th-century diplomacy and military contact added the rest.
English borrows.
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