TIBETAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Tibetan mean? 

• TIBETAN (noun)
  The noun TIBETAN has 2 senses:

1. Himalayish language spoken in Tibet

2. a native or inhabitant of Tibet

  Familiarity information: TIBETAN used as a noun is rare.

• TIBETAN (adjective)
  The adjective TIBETAN has 1 sense:

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

  Familiarity information: TIBETAN used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TIBETAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Himalayish language spoken in Tibet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("Tibetan" is a kind of...):

Himalayish (the Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Tibet and Nepal and Bhutan and Sikkim)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A native or inhabitant of Tibet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Tibetan" is a kind of...):

Asian; Asiatic (a native or inhabitant of Asia)

• TIBETAN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of Tibet or its people or their language

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

Tibetan monks

Pertainym:

Tibet (an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China; located in the Himalayas)

Derivation:

Tibet (an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China; located in the Himalayas)

 Context examples 

"It's a pristine environment, the Tibetan people are kind, and in paleontological terms," he says, "it's relatively unexplored."

("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)

The finding lends support to the idea that the evolution of present-day animals in the Arctic traces back to ancestors that adapted to life in cold regions in the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau.

("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)

Research conducted in the Himalayan Mountains identify a recently discovered three to five million-year-old Tibetan fox, Vulpes qiuzhudingi, as the likely ancestor of the living arctic fox, Vulpes lagopus.

("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)

The scientists, part of a team of geologists and paleontologists led by Xiaoming Wang of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, uncovered fossil specimens of the Tibetan fox in the Zanda Basin in southern Tibet.

("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)

In addition to the fox, the team also discovered extinct species of a wooly rhino (Coelodonta thibetana), three-toed horse (Hipparion), Tibetan bharal (Pseudois, known as blue sheep), chiru (Pantholops, known as Tibetan antelope), snow leopard (Uncia), badger (Meles), and 23 other mammals.

("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)