Athabascan

[ ath-uh-bas-kuhn ]

noun,plural Ath·a·bas·cans, (especially collectively) Ath·a·bas·can for 2.
  1. a family of languages spoken by North American Indians in most of Alaska and inland northwest Canada, in coastal Oregon and California, and in Arizona and the Rio Grande basin, and including especially Navajo, Apache, and Chipewyan.: Compare family (def. 16).

  2. a member of any of various North American Indian peoples speaking Athabascan.

adjective
  1. belonging to or characteristic of the Athabascan.

Origin of Athabascan

1
First recorded in 1770–80; earlier Athapasca(s), introduced as a term for the Canadian Athabascans (from Woods Cree ahδapaska·w “Lake Athabasca,” literally, “there are reeds here and there,” from Proto-Algonquian aʔlap(y)- “net, reticulated” + -ašk- “plant” + derivational elements) + -an
  • Also (Older Spelling) Ath·a·bas·kan; (Older Spelling) Ath·a·pas·kan, Ath·a·pas·can [ath-uh-pas-kuhn] /ˌæθ əˈpæs kən/ .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Athabascan in a sentence

  • The northern and southern divisions of the Athapaskan group are separated by something like twelve hundred miles.

    Pioneers in Canada | Sir Harry Johnston
  • They never became fur trappers in the same complete way as did the northern Algonkian and Athapaskan peoples.