Is there a slang meaning to the word "apache" in French?

Question

I am asking because Maurice Ravel, composer of Bolero, was a member of a group of musicians and artists at the turn of the 19th Century who called themselves "apaches". Is this just a reference to Native Americans, or is there another meaning? Is the word even derived from the Indian reference or is it an entirely separate word? And is it pronounced with the e at the end spoken or silent ("Ah- pash" versus "A Pat- Cheee")?

Answer 1

Okay, when I first read your questions I just thought about graffiti (with an anarchist A for the first "a" of "apaches") I had seen in the parisian metro while I was living over there. And to me it sounded like something quite "rebellious", so I totally agree with the last answer. Anyway, I tried to search a bit further on, and this is what I found (in an approximate English) :

The word Apache is said to have been created by Arthur Dupin. It was first used in the Belleville district (a popular district in Paris), with Amelie Hélié’s (1879-1933) story, who was a famous prostitute nicknamed “casque d’or”, which had tumultuous love affairs with two gang leaders, Manda and Leca, ans these led to a real settling of scores in Belleville in 1902. Both gangs (the one of Leca and the one of Manda) started a real gang war, and Arthur Dupin, a journalist, said the protagonists had had “an Apache behaviour, those Indians who live in the Far West ; such behaviours are unworthy of our civilisation. During half an hour, right in the middle of Paris, two rival gangs fought one against the other because of a girl from the fortifications [allusion to the ones that used to circle the old Paris, the word “fortification” referred in slang to the shanty town that was over there until 1960], a blonde with high chignons [buns], he hair tidied up like the one of a dog!”. This is how the term “Apache” was created to refer to the Parisian crooks.

So I think that it's because Ravel (who was keen to experiment a new approach of music) and his experimental musician mates were considered as rebells in music, that they took the name of "Apaches".
Hope this helped you a bit.

Answer 2

French Apache

Answer 3

no specific slang meaning that I am aware of. The group you refer to may just have been thinking of being some kind of "wild"... the word exixts only as reference to the native american tribe.

Yes, it is pronounced the a silent e at the end. Ah-Pash.

Answer 4

From what I know of my native language, Apache doesn't have any other meaning than the Native Americans / the computer program / the military helicopter

Answer 5

this only the north american indian tribes and there is no any slange meaning of it.

Answer 6

T'as la peche!!