# Cherokee

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˌt͡ʃɛ.ɹəˈkiː/ · frequency rank #15,981

## Definitions
1. A member of an indigenous North American people.

## 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 — the Iroquois term for the Cherokee was Oyata'ge'ronon (“inhabitants of the cave country”) — 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; in Spanish, the people are called the Tchalaquei as early as 1755.

## Common misspellings (11)
`ccherokee`, `cehrokee`, `cheorkee`, `cherkoee`, `cheroeke`, `cheroke`, `cherokkee`, `cherrokee`, `chherokee`, `chreokee`, `hcerokee`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cherokee