IPA

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˌī-(ˌ)pē-ˈā 

plural IPAs

: a pale ale made with extra hops : india pale ale

American beers, especially IPAs, are still quite hoppy …

—Lauren Buzzeo

IPA

2 of 3

noun (2)

ˌī-(ˌ)pē-ˈā 

: an alphabet designed to represent each human speech sound with a unique symbol

IPA

3 of 3

abbreviation

individual practice association

Examples of IPA in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Tap beer options include Coors Light, Modelo, Lagunitas, and the Taco Bell Cantina IPA, according to a bar menu. — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 11 July 2026

Alarmist Brewing, best known for its flagship Le Jus, an award-winning Hazy IPA, closed the doors on its 12-year-old Peterson Avenue brewery and taproom in February amid a flat post-pandemic craft beer market. — Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2026

Go for the bold, unique brews, like the Blizzard of ’67 (named after an infamous winter storm), a hazy triple IPA with orange, pineapple, and mango notes. — Midwest Living, 1 July 2026

Companies moved from automating simple tasks to automating entire workflows through technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent process automation (IPA). — Rajat Sharma, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

India Pale Ale

Noun (2)

International Phonetic Alphabet

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1893, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1933, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

IPA

abbreviation

independent practice association; individual practice association

Note: An independent practice association is made up of a group of physicians in private practice who join in an association that contracts with a managed health care plan (as an HMO) to provide medical services to patients enrolled in the plan.