Sherpa
/ˈʃɜːrpə/noun
A member of a Himalayan ethnic group from Nepal and Tibet, or a mountain guide from that community.
Did you know?Sherpa is an ethnonym, not a generic synonym for porter: the community’s association with Everest expeditions led English speakers to broaden the word’s meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Tibetan
Tibetan
shar
“East; eastern direction”
Classical Tibetan
Tibetan
pa
“A person associated with or from a place”
Medieval–Early Modern Period
Tibetan
shar pa
“Easterner; a person from the eastern region”
19th–Early 20th Century
Nepali
śerpā
“Name for the Sherpa people of the Himalayan region”
1920s
English
Sherpa
“An English rendering of the ethnic name, encountered through Himalayan expeditions”
Modern English
English
sherpa
“A Sherpa person or, by extension, a knowledgeable guide or facilitator”