Athabaskan

[ ath-uh-bas-kuh n ]

/ ˌæθ əˈbæs kən /

noun

a family of languages spoken by American Indians in most of inland northwest Canada and Alaska, in coastal Oregon and California, and in Arizona and the Rio Grande basin, and including especially Navajo, Apache, and Chipewyan.Compare family(def 14).

a member of any of various American Indian peoples speaking Athabaskan.

adjective

belonging to or characteristic of the Athabaskans.

Also Ath·a·bas·can, Athapaskan, Athapascan.

Origin of Athabaskan

1770–80; earlier Athapasca(s), introduced as a term for the Canadian Athabaskans (< Woods Cree ahδapaska·w Lake Athabaska, literally, there are reeds here and there < Proto-Algonquian *aʔlap(y)- net, reticulated + *-ašk- plant + derivational elements) + -an

Athapaskan

or Ath·a·pas·can

[ ath-uh-pas-kuh n ]

/ ˌæθ əˈpæs kən /

noun, adjective

Athabaskan.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for athapascan

For the three remaining northern Athapascan tribes we possess very little data of a strictly ethnographic character.
The Aboriginal Population of the North Coast of California|Sherburne Friend Cook
Merriam deviated from Kroeber very widely in his tribal names for the Athapascan groups.
The Aboriginal Population of the North Coast of California|Sherburne Friend Cook
Above them were the Upper Umpqua villages, of the Athapascan stock.
Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico|John Wesley Powell
The Umpqua language is now placed under the Athapascan family.
Indian Linguistic Families Of America, North Of Mexico|John Wesley Powell

Of these Athapascan peoples it has been written, "They are nearer the brutes than probably any other portion of the human race."
The American Egypt|Channing Arnold

British Dictionary definitions for athapascan

Athapascan

Athapaskan Athabascan or Athabaskan (ˌæθəˈbæskən)

/ (ˌæθəˈpæskən) /

noun

a group of North American Indian languages belonging to the Na-Dene phylum, including Apache and Navaho

a speaker of one of these languages

Word Origin for Athapascan

from Cree athapaskaaw scattered grass or reeds

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012