Tibetan

American  

[ti-bet-n] / tɪˈbɛt n /

Or Thibetan

adjective

1. of or relating to Tibet, its inhabitants, or their language.

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noun

1. a member of the people native to or inhabiting Tibet.

2. the Sino-Tibetan language of Tibet, especially in its standard literary form.

Tibetan British  

/ tɪˈbɛtən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Tibet, its people, or their language

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Tibet

2. the language of Tibet, belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family

Etymology

Origin of Tibetan

First recorded in 1740–50; Tibet + -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tibetan

Lhamo considers herself fortunate that she can read and write Tibetan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Communist Party officials in Beijing are well aware of the romantic appeal of Tibetan culture, both in the West and among its own Han citizens.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Hillman has documented the shaping of Tibetan identity in Shangri-La since first traveling there in 1999.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

The Tibetan culture on display in Shangri-La is mostly “an imaginary view of Tibet.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Still farther east, temperate areas of China were isolated from western Eurasian areas with similar climates by the combination of the Central Asian desert, Tibetan plateau, and Himalayas.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond