Save Type Settlement & Other Usage Ukrainian Scripts Чорнобиль(Ukrainian) Pronounced Pron. /t͡ʃɔr.ˈnɔ.belʲ/ [key·simplify] Meaning & History From Ukrainian чорний (chornyy), meaning "black". Chornobyl is the name of a power plant that had a meltdown in 1986 as well as a Ukrainian village near the plant. The English form is Chernobyl.