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also Na·Dé·né  (nä′dā′nē, -dā-nā′)
A North American Indian language family that includes the Athabaskan languages, Tlingit, and possibly Haida.

[Haida náa-, house, to live, and Tlingit naa, tribe + Proto-Athabaskan *dənæ, person.]

Na-De′ne adj.


(nɑːˈdeɪnɪ; nəˈdiːn) or


(Languages) a phylum of North American Indian languages including Athapascan, Tlingit, and Haida
[from Haida na to dwell + Athapascan dene people; coined by Edward Sapir (1884–1939), American anthropologist]


(nɑˈdeɪ ni, ˌnɑ deɪˈneɪ)

a proposed genetic grouping of American Indian languages that includes the Athabaskan family, Tlingit, and Haida.
[1915; Haida na to live, house, Tlingit na people, Athabaskan *-ne in dene, representing a word in Athabaskan languages for “person, people”]
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.Na-Dene - a family of North American Indian languages
American-Indian language, Amerind, Amerindian language, American Indian, Indian - any of the languages spoken by Amerindians
Haida - the Na-Dene language of the Haida
Tlingit - the Na-Dene language spoken by the Tlingit