Athabascan
noun
Ath·a·bas·can
ˌa-thə-ˈba-skən 
variants
or Athabaskan
or less commonly Athapaskan
or Athapascan
1
: a family of languages spoken primarily by certain Indigenous peoples of western Canada, Alaska, and the U.S. Southwest
2
plural Athabascans or Athabaskans also Athapaskans or Athapascans
: a member of a people speaking an Athabascan language
Examples of Athabascan in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Their mother is Alaska Native of the Ahtna Athabascan people, and the family said McWhorter was named for an aunt who died in 1940 at a boarding school for Indigenous children in Alaska, per CBS.
—
Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 20 Sep. 2025
Williams, a 77-year-old Alaskan Athabascan Indian who has lived in East Oakland since the early 1970s, finds plenty of reasons to despise the artwork, the most visceral being its nudity.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
Pease is Native American; Frese, Vent and Roberts are Athabascan Alaska Natives.
—CBS News, 18 Apr. 2025
Now, kids ranging in age from 4 to 17 are confined to three classrooms and an atrium lined with portraits of the community's Yup'ik and Athabascan elders.
—Emily Schwing, NPR, 4 Mar. 2025
The decree undoes the work of former President Barack Obama, who, in 2015 officially changed the name from Mount McKinley to Denali, the peak’s traditional name from the Koyukon Athabascan language, which is spoken by Alaska’s Native inhabitants.
—Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 24 Jan. 2025
The people living in the area were likely ancestors to the Tanana Athabascan people, a semi-nomadic hunting, trapping, and fishing tribe of inland Alaska Natives.
—Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 18 Jan. 2024
Willis’s family are Koyukon Athabascan and are part of the Huslia tribe.
—Nicolás Viñuela, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2023
When Bering finally located Alaska in 1741, Alaska was home to about 100,000 people, including Inuit, Athabascan, Yupik, Unangan and Tlingit.
—William L. Iggiagruk Hensley, The Conversation, 29 Mar. 2017
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Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 20 Sep. 2025
Williams, a 77-year-old Alaskan Athabascan Indian who has lived in East Oakland since the early 1970s, finds plenty of reasons to despise the artwork, the most visceral being its nudity.
—Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
Pease is Native American; Frese, Vent and Roberts are Athabascan Alaska Natives.
—CBS News, 18 Apr. 2025
Now, kids ranging in age from 4 to 17 are confined to three classrooms and an atrium lined with portraits of the community's Yup'ik and Athabascan elders.
—Emily Schwing, NPR, 4 Mar. 2025
The decree undoes the work of former President Barack Obama, who, in 2015 officially changed the name from Mount McKinley to Denali, the peak’s traditional name from the Koyukon Athabascan language, which is spoken by Alaska’s Native inhabitants.
—Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 24 Jan. 2025
The people living in the area were likely ancestors to the Tanana Athabascan people, a semi-nomadic hunting, trapping, and fishing tribe of inland Alaska Natives.
—Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 18 Jan. 2024
Willis’s family are Koyukon Athabascan and are part of the Huslia tribe.
—Nicolás Viñuela, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2023
When Bering finally located Alaska in 1741, Alaska was home to about 100,000 people, including Inuit, Athabascan, Yupik, Unangan and Tlingit.
—William L. Iggiagruk Hensley, The Conversation, 29 Mar. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Athabascan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Athabascan. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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