Meanings
alternative Athabaska
- A town in Alberta, Canada, on the Athabasca River. Formerly "Athabasca Landing"
Synonyms: Athabasca River, Athabaska River, Athabasca Landing, Athabaska Landing
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA town in Alberta, Canada, on the Athabasca River. Formerly "Athabasca Landing"
lake
Origin
- CreeAhđapaskâw
- EnglishAthabasca
From Woods Cree/Cree Ahđapaskâw. Compare to Plains Cree ᐋᓂᐢᑯᐘᐢᑯᐢᑳᐤ (“there are many reeds”) or Cree ᐋᓂᐢᑯᐘᐢᑳᐤ (aaniskowaskaaw, “it is full of reeds”), from ᐋᓂᐢᑯᐘᐢᑿ (aaniskowaskwa, “reeds, bullrushes”). Doublet of Arthabaska, Quebec, from Abenaki awabaska (“place of bushes and reeds”). The Cree name originally applied to the lake, and the river delta (the world's largest inland freshwater delta) and was borrowed into French and English by fur traders. The river was named by extension, and the town's name is clipping of "Athabasca Landing". The Cree name for the town is ᑲᐹᐏᓂᕁ (kapaawinihk, “portage, landing, disembarkation”).
More words from Cree
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Athabasca. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Athabasca
“Athabasca.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Athabasca. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Athabasca,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Athabasca.
Source: Athabasca on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.