tycoon

Etymology

First recorded in 1857,^[1][2] borrowed from Japanese 大君 (taikun, “great lord, prince”),^[3][4] a title given by foreigners to the shogun of Japan,^[1][5] from Chinese words meaning “great” and “prince”.^[3][6]

The transferred sense “important person” is attested by 1861, in reference to Abraham Lincoln,^[1] and the application to a wealthy businessman dates from after the First World War.^[1] Compare taipan.^[4]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. [1] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. [1] [2] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. [1] [2] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. [1] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. [1] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House