dene

American  

[deen] / din /

Or dean

noun

British.

1. a bare, sandy tract or low sand hill near the sea.

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Dene ¹ British  

/ ˈdɛneɪ, ˈdɛnɪ /

plural noun

1. the North American Indian peoples of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories in Canada. The official body representing them is called the Dene Nation

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dene ² British  

/ diːn /

noun

1. a valley, esp one that is narrow and wooded

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dene ³ British  

/ diːn /

noun

1. dialect a sandy stretch of land or dune near the sea

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Etymology

Origin of dene

1815–20; earlier den, in same sense, Middle English (in phrase den and strond ); perhaps to be identified with Middle English dene, Old English denu, dænu valley

Example Sentences

Bryng us in no mutton, for that is often lene, Nor bryng us in no trypys, for thei be syldom dene But bryng us in good ale.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Like the prodigal, he grew that ashamit o' what he had dene, that he gied up his kirk, and gaed hame to the day's darg upon his father's ferm.

From Salted with Fire by MacDonald, George

Csars dene, perhaps don: Cæsar's dene, Cæsar's plains; now Salisbury plaine.

From The Natural History of Wiltshire by Aubrey, John

At three we came on to Roddam, where an uncle and aunt of Charlie Bosanquet's live—a beautiful place, with a terraced garden almost overhanging the moorlands, and a dene stretching up into the Cheviots.

From Story of My Life, volumes 1-3 by Hare, Augustus J. C.

And to say truth, dene is the old Saxon word for a vale or low bottom, as dune or don is for a hill or hilly soil.

From Elizabethan England From 'A Description of England,' by William Harrison by Harrison, William