Cherokee

See also: cherokee

English

Etymology

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[1] — the Iroquois term for the Cherokee was Oyata'ge'ronon (“inhabitants of the cave country”)[2] — 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”)).

Whatever its origin, the ethnonym entered European languages at an early date, perhaps as early as the 1670s;[3] in Spanish, the people are called the Tchalaquei as early as 1755.[4]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɛɹ.ə.kiː/

Proper noun

Cherokee

  1. An indigenous North American people.
  2. Their Iroquoian language, spoken in Oklahoma and North Carolina.
  3. A syllabary for the Cherokee language invented by Sequoyah.
  4. A town in Colbert County, Alabama.
  5. Cherokee Village, Arkansas.
  6. A census-designated place in Butte County, California.
  7. A former gold mining settlement in Nevada County, California.
  8. A city in Iowa that is the county seat of Cherokee County.
  9. A city in Crawford County, Kansas.
  10. A census-designated place in Swain County and Jackson County, North Carolina.
  11. An unincorporated community in Logan County, Ohio.
  12. A city in Oklahoma that is the county seat of Alfalfa County.
  13. An unincorporated community in Grainger County, Tennessee.
  14. An unincorporated community in San Saba County, Texas.
  15. An unincorporated community in McDowell County, West Virginia
  16. An unincorporated community located in the town of Hull, Marathon County, Wisconsin.
  17. A town in Victoria, Australia.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

Cherokee (plural Cherokees)

  1. A member of this people.

Translations

References
  1. Cherokee Indian Tribe, Access Genealogy (September 21, 2009)
  2. Milton E. Campbell, The State of North Carolina with Native American Ancestry →ISBN, page 39: "The Iroquois called the Cherokee Oyata'ge'ronon[,] which means inhabitants of the cave country."
  3. “Cherokee” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
  4. Charles A. Hanna, The Wilderness Trail (New York, 1911)

Further reading

Dutch

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Proper noun

Cherokee ?

  1. Cherokee people
  2. Cherokee, their language

Noun

Cherokee

  1. a member of the Cherokee people
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