Other forms: tycoons
A tycoon is a very rich and powerful businessman. An oil tycoon, a media tycoon, the tycoon's empire.
It is a journalist's word, and it almost always comes with the industry attached: oil tycoon, shipping tycoon, property tycoon. It came from a Japanese title for the shogun, brought back by American diplomats in the 1850s.
1nountycoonA very rich and powerful businessman.
“The shipping tycoon owned a fleet of tankers and a private island.”
tycoon is a person.
Japanese taikun means great lord, a title used for the shogun, brought into English in the 1850s.
Japanese
大君 — great lord, prince
English, today
tycoon
Japanese 大君 (“great lord, prince”), a title for the shogun. Related to taipan, from yue 大班. The game sense was derived from the use of tycoon in titles of games in which one plays a tycoon (e.g., RollerCoaster Tycoon).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA