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.
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