apache

See also: Apache and apaché

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æʃ

Noun

apache (plural apaches)

1. Alternative letter-case form of Apache, a Parisian gangster.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French apache.

Pronunciation

• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): /ˌaːˈpɑ.tʃə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: apa‧che

Noun

apache m (plural apachen or apaches, no diminutive)

1. member of the (Parisian) underworld

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish apache.

The Parisian gangsters were named after the American tribe because of their aggressive reputation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.paʃ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

apache m (uncountable)

1. Apache (language)

Noun

apache m (plural apaches)

1. (historical, slang) Apache (gangster)
   • 1924, Emmanuel Bove, Mes amis [My Friends]‎^[1], Paris: Émile-Paul Frères:

     Près de moi, un apache chantait tout seul, la tête baissée. Je voyais dans sa manche, sur son poignet, la moitié d’un tatouage. Plus loin, une femme léchait ses doigts englués par une liqueur.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• → Romanian: apaș
• → Ottoman Turkish: آپاش

Further reading

• “apache”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Apaches (voyous) on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Zuni ʔa·pačuder.

Havasupai-Walapai-Yavapai ʔpačəder.

Spanish apachebor.

Portuguese apache

Borrowed from Spanish apache.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /aˈpa.ʃi/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈpa.ʃɨ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈpa.ʃɨ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐˈpat.ʃɨ/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -aʃi, (Portugal) -aʃɨ
• Hyphenation: a‧pa‧che

Noun

apache m or f by sense (plural apaches)

1. Apache (one of the native Apache people of the southwestern United States)
2. Apache (a violent Parisian gangster during the late 19th century and early 20th century)

Noun

apache m (uncountable)

1. Apache (Athabaskan language spoken by the Apache)

Adjective

apache m or f (plural apaches)

1. Apache (of or relating to the Apache people and their culture)
2. Apache (of or relating to the Apache language)

Further reading

• “apache”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “apache”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈpat͡ʃe/ [aˈpa.t͡ʃe]
• Rhymes: -atʃe
• Syllabification: a‧pa‧che

Etymology 1

Most likely from Zuni ʔa·paču (“Navajos”), or possibly from the Yavapai word ʔpačə, meaning "people".

Noun

apache m or f by sense (plural apaches)

1. Apache
2. jaguarundi (Felis yagouaroundi)

Etymology 2

Verb

apache

1. inflection of apachar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “apache”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026

References

• Schoenhals, Louise C. (1988), A Spanish - English Glossary of Mexican Flora and Fauna‎^[2], Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, page 579