Chautauqua is an Iroquois word, meaning either "two moccasins tied together", "bag tied at the middle", "where the fish are taken out" or "jumping fish."

Chautauqua County, New York — A county

Chautauqua County, Kansas — A county

Chautauqua, New York — A town

Chautauqua, Kansas — A city

21st century Chautauquas number at least three, and depending on the exact definition used may be more numerous.

In 2006 The Willowz, a Rock Pop combo produced by Ena Paul Kostabi, from Southern California, titled their collection of songs (intended for release in March 2007) "chautauqua".

Chatauqua, Ohio — a town

Chautauqua is an adult education movement featuring lectures, plays, and musical performances; the word is also used for any single organization pursuing this activity. The idea was originated in 1874 in Chautauqua, New York, which lends its name to the format, but was soon copied elsewhere. Chautauquas flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, but declined in popularity thereafter.

Chautauqua Institution is where the Chautauqua movement stated in 1874 and is alive and well today.

Chautauqua, Illinois — A private summer resort, originally started as a tent Chautauqua

Chautauqua Lake — A lake in Chautauqua County in Western New York and the source of all other places with this name

Chautauqua Airlines is a regional airline based in Indianapolis, IN

In the R.M. Pirsig novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values, HarperCollins ISBN 0-688-08461-3; ISBN 0-06-083987-2, the author metaphorically refers to some of his episodic philosophical musings as "chautauquas." Per Persig, the definition of a Chautauqua would be something that - "...[intends] to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer."