Cherokee

Cherokee — noun

IPA/ˈtʃerəkiː/
KK[tʃˈɛrəkˌi]IPA/ˈtʃerəkiː/
  • Cherokeesingular
  • Cherokeesplural

1. A Native American nation that originally lived in the southeastern part of what

1.nounB1
Definition

A Native American nation that originally lived in the southeastern part of what is now the United States, and whose main tribal governments today are based in Oklahoma and North Carolina.

Example

The Cherokee have lived in the southern Appalachian mountains for thousands of years.

the Cherokee + plural verb for the nation

Many Cherokee were forced to walk to Oklahoma in the winter of 1838.

Common collocations
  • Cherokee people
  • Cherokee Nation
  • Cherokee history
  • Cherokee traditions
  • Cherokee elders

Grammar Patterns

the Cherokee + plural verb

Usage Note

When referring to the nation as a whole, the Cherokee is used as a plural noun and takes a plural verb (e.g. 'The Cherokee have...').

Common Mistakes

The Cherokee is a Native American tribe.
The Cherokee are a Native American people.
When referring to the nation as a group of people, use a plural verb.

2. A person who belongs to the Cherokee nation, either by birth or by tribal citize

2.nounB1
Definition

A person who belongs to the Cherokee nation, either by birth or by tribal citizenship.

Example

Noor's grandfather is a Cherokee who grew up in a small town in eastern Oklahoma.

a Cherokee — singular countable use

The librarian introduced the children to a Cherokee who makes traditional clay pots.

Common collocations
  • a Cherokee
  • young Cherokee
  • Cherokee elder
  • Cherokee citizen

Grammar Patterns

a Cherokee

the Cherokees (plural)

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: sense 2 refers to one individual ('a Cherokee' = one person), while sense 1 refers to the entire nation ('the Cherokee' = the people collectively). The plural form Cherokees is less common than using the Cherokee for the collective group.

Common Mistakes

She is Cherokee people.
She is a Cherokee.
Use 'a Cherokee' for one person; 'Cherokee people' or 'the Cherokee' for the group.

3. The Native American language spoken by the Cherokee people, which uses a unique

3.nounB2
Definition

The Native American language spoken by the Cherokee people, which uses a unique set of symbols invented by the Cherokee scholar Sequoyah in the early 1800s.

Example

Cherokee is written with eighty-five characters that each stand for a single syllable.

Cherokee + singular verb for the language

Karim has studied Cherokee for two years and can now introduce himself in the language.

Common collocations
  • speak Cherokee
  • learn Cherokee
  • in Cherokee
  • Cherokee syllabary
  • Cherokee language

Grammar Patterns

Cherokee + singular verb

speak / learn / write Cherokee

Usage Note

As a language name, Cherokee is uncountable and takes a singular verb. The phrase in Cherokee describes something expressed using the language (e.g. 'a story in Cherokee').

Common Mistakes

I am learning the Cherokee.
I am learning Cherokee.
Do not use 'the' before the name of a language.

Cherokee — adjective

IPA/tʃˈɛɹəʊkˌiː/
KK[tʃˈɛrəkˌi]IPA/tʃˈɛrəkˌiː/

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Cherokee specifically names one Indigenous nation, while Native American is a broad term covering all original peoples of the United States. Indigenous is a global term used for original inhabitants of any region (e.g. Indigenous peoples of Australia). First Nations is the preferred term in Canada for Indigenous groups there, and does not include US nations like the Cherokee. Tribe can refer to any Indigenous group but is sometimes considered imprecise for Cherokee because the Cherokee Nation is a sovereign government, not merely a social group. Use Cherokee when you mean this specific people; use Native American or Indigenous for general references.

Native American ↗Indigenous ↗First Nationstribe ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Cherokee Nation
  • Cherokee people
  • Cherokee tribe
  • Cherokee language
  • Cherokee culture
  • Cherokee history

Phrases

  • the Cherokee
  • Cherokee Nation
  • Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
  • Cherokee Heritage Center

Prepositions

  • among the Cherokee
  • in Cherokee
  • of Cherokee descent

Etymology

ChoctawEnglish

The English name Cherokee comes from the Choctaw word 'Cha-la-kee', meaning 'people who live in the mountains' or 'cave people'. The Cherokee call themselves Tsalagi (ᏣᎳᎩ) in their own language, a word whose origins are debated but may mean 'principal people' or 'people of different speech'.

First known use

1721

1721, in the meaning defined at sense 1