Etymology

Cheyenne

Chey·enne
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Today it means: A member of an indigenous people of the Great Plains in North America. Full definition →

French Cheyenne ← Dakota šahíyena
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The story

  1. Dakota · derived fromya“to speak”
  2. Dakota · derived fromša“red”
  3. Dakota · derived fromšaia“to speak incoherently”
  4. Dakota · derived fromšahíyena
  5. French · borrowed fromCheyenne
  6. English todayCheyenne

Borrowed from French Cheyenne, from Dakota šahíyena, from Dakota šaia (“to speak incoherently”), from Dakota ša (“red”) and Dakota ya (“to speak”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.