Cheyenne

American  

[shahy-en, -an] / ʃaɪˈɛn, -ˈæn /

noun

plural

Cheyennes,

plural

Cheyenne

1. a member of a North American Indian people of the western plains, formerly in central Minnesota and North and South Dakota, and now divided between Montana and Oklahoma.

2. an Algonquian language, the language of the Cheyenne Indians.

3. a city in and the capital of Wyoming, in the S part.

---

Cheyenne ¹ British  

/ ʃaɪˈæn /

noun

1. a member of a Native American people of the western Plains, now living chiefly in Montana and Oklahoma

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Algonquian family

---

Cheyenne ² British  

/ -ˈɛn, ʃaɪˈæn /

noun

1. a city in SE Wyoming, capital of the state. Pop: 54 374 (2003 est)

---

Etymology

Origin of Cheyenne

via Canadian French from Dakota Shaiyena, from shaia to speak incoherently, from sha red + ya to speak

Example Sentences

Cheyenne Hangaman, the boys' mother, said she tried to rescue them by lifting them out of the water and placing them on the ice, but it kept breaking.

From BBC • Jan. 28, 2026

Each time I journeyed into Cheyenne Mountain, I walked or rode through a long tunnel carved out of granite.

From Salon • Dec. 7, 2025

The company is close to delivering a 64-megawatt expansion in Ontario for CoreWeave, has broken ground on a 302-megawatt campus in Cheyenne, Wyo. and has announced plans for a 1.2 gigawatt facility near St. Louis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025

It’s a huge reason she and friend Cheyenne Livelsberger started Chicago’s Cool Kids Craft Club, she told The Times in a recent interview.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2025

Cavalry soldiers, ninety-seven Cheyenne, Kiowa, Pawnee, and Sioux Indians, another fifty Cossacks and Hussars, 180 horses, eighteen buffalo, ten elk, ten mules, and a dozen other animals.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson