Apache

Definition

Any of several Athabascan-speaking peoples of the American southwest excluding Navajo, i.e., Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Plains Apache, or Western Apache.

Etymology

From American Spanish apache, most likely from Zuni ʔa·paču (“Navajos”), or possibly from the Yavapai word ʔpačə, meaning "people". The web server software was named to honor the Apache people, although much has been made of the fact that its design was "patchy" (constructed by assembling software patches). See Apache HTTP Server § Name. The Parisian gangsters were named after the American tribe because of their aggressive reputation.

Example Sentences

• "Away up at the sources of the Gila, where the pines and cedars stand and where creeks and valleys are found, is a part of the Apache land."
• "But the brain, and the agility, and the muscles that had coped with the mighty strength and cruel craftiness of Terkoz and Numa in the fastness of their savage jungle were not to be so easily subdued as these apaches of Paris had believed."
• "“He had the big paper knife in his hand, and ‘Mind, Dorcas,’ he says, ‘you’ll have to be very respectful. This is my specially sharpened scimitar, and it’s off with your head if I’m at all displeased with you!’ Miss Cynthia, she was what they call an Apache, or some such name—a Frenchified sort of cut-throat, I take it to be. A real sight she looked. You’d never have believed a pretty young lady like that could have made herself into such a ruffian.”"