Cherokee
/ˌt͡ʃɛ.ɹəˈkiː/
Cherokee noun: a member of an indigenous North American people. Also the ellipsis of Cherokee County.
Noun
Cherokee (plural Cherokees or Cherokee)
- A member of an indigenous North American people.
Proper noun
Cherokee
- An indigenous North American people.
- Their Iroquoian language, spoken in Oklahoma and North Carolina.
- You don’t have to be a member of a tribe to help protect native languages. In Oklahoma, public students can choose to take Indigenous language courses like Bodéwadmimwen, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Comanche and others for school credit — an empowering step toward recognition and respect. Many tribal...2025 June 19, Robert Collins, “Learning an Indigenous language in Oklahoma is a living link to tribal ancestors”, in The Oklahoman, archived from the original on 23 Oct 2025
- A syllabary for the Cherokee language invented by Sequoyah.
- A town in Colbert County, Alabama.
- Cherokee Village, Arkansas.
- A census-designated place in Butte County, California.
- A former gold mining settlement in Nevada County, California.
- A city, the county seat of Cherokee County, Iowa.
- A city in Crawford County, Kansas.
- A census-designated place in Swain County and Jackson County, North Carolina, capital of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
- An unincorporated community in Logan County, Ohio.
- A city, the county seat of Alfalfa County, Oklahoma.
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- An unincorporated community in Grainger County, Tennessee.
- Synonyms:
- Cherokee Village
- An unincorporated community in San Saba County, Texas.
- An unincorporated community in McDowell County, West Virginia.
- An unincorporated community in Hull, Marathon County, Wisconsin.
- A locality in the Shire of Macedon Ranges, central Victoria, Australia.
Also used as
Cherokee is also the ellipsis of Cherokee County.
Cherokee meaning in Hindi, Marathi and Persian
Cherokee in Hindi
- individual member of this people
- चेरोकी cerokī
Cherokee in Marathi
- individual member of this people
- चेरोकी cerokī
Cherokee in Persian
- language
- چروکی
- indigenous North American people
- چروکی
Synonyms of Cherokee
Forms of Cherokee
| plural | Cherokees |
|---|---|
| plural | Cherokee |
Origin of Cherokee
Most likely from the Cherokee autonym ᏣᎳᎩ (tsalagi). Derivation from a Choctaw exonym meaning "those who live in caves" (compare chiluk (“cave”)) has also been suggested — the Iroquois term for the Cherokee was Oyata'ge'ronon (“inhabitants of the cave country”) — as has derivation from a Creek term for "person(s) who speak(s) a non-Creek language" (see celokketv (“to speak a non-creek language”)). Regardless of its origin, the ethnonym entered European languages at an early date, perhaps as early as the 1670s; in Spanish, the people are called the Tchalaquei as early as 1755.
Words formed from Cherokee
- Cherokee County
- Cherokee Outlet
- Cherokee plum
- Cherokee rose
- Cherokee Strip
- Cherokee Village
Phrases with Cherokee
Questions about Cherokee
- What does Cherokee mean?
- Cherokee means a member of an indigenous North American people.
- What is Cherokee in Hindi?
- Cherokee in Hindi is चेरोकी (cerokī). See Cherokee meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is Cherokee?
- Cherokee can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce Cherokee?
- Cherokee is pronounced /ˌt͡ʃɛ.ɹəˈkiː/.
- What is the plural of Cherokee?
- The plural of Cherokee is Cherokees.
Words near Cherokee in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Cherokee (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Cherokee.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Cherokee.wav.
Cite this entry: “Cherokee.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cherokee. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.