Cheyenne

Chey·enne
C3H4E1Y4E1N1N1E1
/ʃaɪˈæn//ʃaɪˈeə̯n//ʃaɪˈɛə̯n//ʃaɪˈɛn/

noun

A member of an indigenous people of the Great Plains in North America.

Similar
Cheyenne language
Less commonScrabble 16

Meanings

nounCheyenne (plural Cheyenne or Cheyennes)

plural Cheyennes

  1. A member of an indigenous people of the Great Plains in North America.
    1 more example

    You will want to tell him that you are Cheyenne, that that is where you are from, that Cheyennes once, up near the Great Lakes, were agricultural people, and then followed the buffalo before running for their lives like the buffalo, and that your people, they were Cheyenne wherever they went, but instead you just say the word Cheyenne, with your hand over your heart, to which he will say the word Lakota with his hand over his heart.

    2024, Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars, Harvill Secker, page 108
proper noun
  1. An Algonquian language spoken by the Cheyenne people.

    "He don't talk English, only Cheyenne and sign." "You speak Cheyenne," Mason argued. "Why does he need an interpreter?"

    1950, Dorothy M. Johnson, War Shirt; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 108
  2. The capital and largest city of Wyoming, United States and the county seat of Laramie County; named for the people.
  3. A river in the United States; flowing 295 miles from the confluence of the Antelope and Dry Fork creeks in Thunder Basin National Grassland, Wyoming into Lake Oahe, a reservoir of the Missouri River, at Mission Ridge, South Dakota.
  4. A female or male given name of modern American usage.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe Algonquian language spoken by the Cheyenne

Similar
Cheyenne language
Broader
AlgonquianAlgonquinAlgonquian language

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Dakotaya“to speak”
  2. Dakotaša“red”
  3. Dakotašaia“to speak incoherently”
  4. Dakotašahíyena
  5. FrenchCheyenne
  6. EnglishCheyenne

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

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech Čejen
  • Čejenmember of the Cheyenne people
Danish Cheyenne
  • Cheyennecity in Wyoming
Finnish cheyenne
  • cheyennelanguage
French Cheyenne
  • Cheyennemember of the Cheyenne people
German Cheyenne
  • Cheyennecity in Wyoming
Greek Τσεγιέν, Τσεγιέν
  • Τσεγιέν (Tsegién)member of the Cheyenne people
  • Τσεγιέν (Tsegién)city in Wyoming
Latin Cheyenna
  • Cheyennacity in Wyoming
Latvian Šaiena
  • Šaienacity in Wyoming
Polish Czejen, Czejenka
  • Czejenmember of the Cheyenne people
  • Czejenkamember of the Cheyenne people
Russian Чейе́нн, Шайе́нн
  • Чейе́нн (Čejjénn)city in Wyoming
  • Шайе́нн (Šajjénn)city in Wyoming
  • чейе́нн (čejjénn)language
  • шайе́нн (šajjénn)language
Swedish cheyenne, cheyenne
  • cheyennemember of the Cheyenne people
  • cheyennelanguage

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Cheyenne

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

Cheyenne. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cheyenne

MLA

“Cheyenne.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cheyenne. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Cheyenne,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Cheyenne.

Source: Cheyenne on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.