Cher·ni·hiv (ch?r-n??h?v, -ny??h?w) or Cher·ni·gov (-g?f) A city of northern Ukraine northeast of Kiev. First mentioned in 907, it was the capital of the Chernigov principality in the 11th century and later passed to Lithuania, Poland, and Russia.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.