Dene

//diːn// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A valley, especially the deep valley of a stream or rivulet. Northumbria
  2. 2
    a sand dune by the seashore
  3. 3
    An Athabascan people of Canada, especially of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. plural, plural-only

    "In the Northwest Territories, the languages with official status are English, French, Dëne Sųłıné (Chipewyan), Nēhiyawēwin (Cree), Dene Kǝdǝ́ (Northern Slavey), Dene Zhatıé (Southern Slavey), Dinjii Zhu’ Ginjik (Gwich’in), Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun and Tłįcho."

Synonyms

All synonyms
chipewyanchipewyanna dene

Example

More examples

"Mr. Oldacre is a bachelor, fifty-two years of age, and lives in Deep Dene House."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English dene, from Old English dene.

Etymology 2

Perhaps related to Middle Low German düne (“dune”).

Etymology 3

Probably from Chipewyan, though most Athabaskan languages have a similar word meaning "person" that's often used as the name for the people who speak the language and/or the language itself. Doublet of Diné.

Related phrases

dene yeniseiannorthwest territories

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.