Lipan

American  

[li-pahn] / lɪˈpɑn /

noun

• Lipans,
  plural
• Lipan
  plural

1. a member of an Apache group that comprises several Apache bands, living in the southwestern United States east of the Rio Grande.

2. the Athabascan language of the Lipan.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Lipan
  plural
• Lipans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Lipan

First recorded in 1845–50; from Spanish Lipán, from Lipan self-designation Hleh-pai Ndé or Lépai-Ndé “Light Gray People” (a reference to the migration history of the Lipan)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Lipan Lipans

Pastor Robert Soto was decked out in full garb as a feather dancer and member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

For the Texas Tribal Buffalo Project, live bison are part of a program that teaches Indigenous youth about the animal, said the organization’s founder, Lucille Contreras of the Lipan Apache tribe.

From New York Times ● Jul. 4, 2023

Darcie Little Badger’s “A Snake Falls to Earth” is based in part on Lipan Apache storytelling traditions.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2021

By some accounts, Vanderwal wouldn’t be there if not for Lerma - the self-described “pedophile hunter,” data resource manager and Lipan Apache tribal member who moonlights as a Facebook personality and NRA-certified firearms instructor.

From Washington Times ● Apr. 28, 2018

If the young Lipan expected to meet any of the rangers or their leader at the place named the previous day, he was mistaken.

From The Lost Gold of the Montezumas A Story of the Alamo by William O. Stoddard

The Comanche scouts were few in number and they had no desire to be caught between two fires, Lipans, if there were any, on one side, and the riflemen on the other.

From The Lost Gold of the Montezumas A Story of the Alamo by William O. Stoddard

If there had been any thought of a temporary alliance between them and their old enemies, the Lipans, for Mexican raiding purposes, it had disappeared in the up-stairs council.

From The Lost Gold of the Montezumas A Story of the Alamo by William O. Stoddard

If this, however, were the Hacienda Dolores, and if Castro's Lipans were there, they had raised over the largest of the adobe structures the eagle flag of Mexico.

From The Lost Gold of the Montezumas A Story of the Alamo by William O. Stoddard

There had been, as Tetzcatl had reported, a sharp brush between the Lipans and a party of Comanches.

From The Lost Gold of the Montezumas A Story of the Alamo by William O. Stoddard

The Lipans and Comanches were not at peace with each other.

From The Lost Gold of the Montezumas A Story of the Alamo by William O. Stoddard