noun
or cher·e·miss |cherə|mis, -mēs
( plural cheremis or cheremises or cheremiss or cheremisses )
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Russian Cheremis, from Old Russian Čermisy, probably from Chuvash Śarmîś
1. : one of a Finnish people of eastern Russia that are farmers and forest dwellers in the Mari and Bashkir republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics — called also Mari
2. : the Finno-Ugric language of the Cheremis people — see uralic languages table