Word.ws English Dictionary

cheyne

/ˈt͡ʃeɪn/

cheyne is the obsolete form of chain.

Meaning of chain

Noun

chain (plural chains)

  1. A series of interconnected rings or links usually made of metal.
    • He wore a gold chain around the neck.
    Synonyms:
    string, rackle
    1. An accessory, adornment or insignia comprising, containing or depicting a series of links.
      • wallet chain
    2. A livery collar, a chain of office.
      • And gainſt the General we will lift our ſwords
        And either lanch his greedie thirſting throat,
        Or take him priſoner, and his chaine ſhall ſerue
        For Manackles, till he be ranſom’d home.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
    3. (figuratively) That which confines, fetters, or secures; a bond.
      • the chains of habit
    4. (plural, usually) A snow chain.
      • He put chains on my tires.
    5. A bicycle chain.
      • My bike needs a chain.

See all 40 meanings of chain

Proper noun capitalized: Cheyne

Cheyne (plural Cheynes)

  1. A surname.
  2. A male given name of rare usage.

Forms of cheyne

Noun
pluralcheynes
Proper noun
pluralCheynes

Origin of cheyne

Of Anglo-Norman origin, ultimately from Old French chesne (“oak”).

Questions about cheyne

What does cheyne mean?
Cheyne means a surname.
What is cheyne the obsolete form of?
Cheyne is the obsolete form of chain.
What part of speech is cheyne?
Cheyne is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce cheyne?
Cheyne is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪn/.

Words near cheyne in the dictionary

  1. Cheyletiella dermatitis
  2. cheyletiellosis
  3. cheyletoid
  4. Cheyna
  5. Cheynas
  6. cheyne
  7. Cheyne-Stokes
  8. cheynes
  9. cheyney
  10. cheyneys
  11. chez

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cheyne (page history and authors); Cheyne (page history and authors); chain (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.

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Cite this entry: “cheyne.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cheyne. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.