sherpa

/ˈʃɝpə/

sherpa means the Southern Tibetan language of these people.

sherpa is pronounced /ˈʃɝpə/.

Etymology

From Tibetan ཤར་པ། (shar pa, literally “eastern people”), from ཤར (shar, “east”) + པ (pa, nominalizing suffix). The reason for this derivation is unclear, but a common explanation notes that the Sherpas originated in eastern Tibet. The community is based in the Nepalese highlands, however, which is south of Tibet.

name

The Southern Tibetan language of these people.

noun

A member of a particular Himalayan ethnic group living in Nepal and Tibet, known especially as mountaineers.
A high-ranking government official who works tirelessly in the background to conclude the text of an official communiqué, typically from a G7 or G20 summit.e.g.“Sherpas from the European Union and 19 countries worked through the week to salvage a meaningful joint statement, culminating in an all-night session on Friday.” — 2018 December 1, Julian Borger, “G20 agreement backs 'rules-based' order but bows to Trump on trade reforms”, in The Guardian, London, United Kingdom, →ISSN, archived from the original on 29 Apr 2019:
A local mountain guide or porter, particularly a male of the Nepalese Sherpa people so employed.e.g.“Climbers have warned of overcrowding on K2 — the world’s second highest mountain and one of its deadliest — after a sherpa took video of queues snaking towards the summit.” — 2022 August 1, Emma Yeomans, Fiona Kingston, “Overcrowding on K2 as climbers queue to reach peak”, in The Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Aug 2022, UK News:
An expert accompanying a high-ranking leader to a summit meeting.
A synthetic fabric with a long, thick pile, similar to faux fur, imitation lamb wool, or fleece.

verb

To serve as a guide or porter for another.

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

gurung 63% match — A member of a Tibetan ethnic group living in the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal. vs sherpa →
pahari 59% match — In South Asia, someone from the hills or mountains, a hillman; specifically a member of any of various peoples living in the Himalayan regions of India and Nepal. vs sherpa →
magar 59% match — A member of a particular ethnic group from Nepal and northern India. vs sherpa →
limbu 57% match — A member of a tribal people of Nepal (and to a lesser extent India and Bhutan). vs sherpa →
drokpa 55% match — A Tibetan nomad. vs sherpa →
lepcha 54% match — An ethnic group, the aboriginal people of Sikkim, who live in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. vs sherpa →
zeme 54% match — A Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group from northeast India. vs sherpa →
wakhi 53% match — A Pamiri ethnic group residing in the Pamir Mountains. vs sherpa →