What does "sequoyah" mean?

Inventor of the syllabary for writing the Cherokee language, also known as George Guess.

What is a synonym for "sequoyah"?

Common synonyms include: george guess.

//səˈkwɔɪə// name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Proper Noun

1
Inventor of the syllabary for writing the Cherokee language, also known as George Guess.

"Sequoyah started making the Cherokee syllabary around 1809."

Borrowed from Cherokee ᏎᏉᏯ (sequoya), earlier ᏍᏏᏉᏯ (ssiquoya); usually held to derive from ᏏᏆ ᎠᏯᎠ (siqua ayaa, literally “a beast (is) inside”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.