chamois

C2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈʃæmwɑːz/ UK /ˈʃæmwɑː/ See IPA manual

Freq #47338

Meanings

1

noun
A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.

When my father returned from Milan, he found playing with me in the hall of our villa a child fairer than pictured cherub – a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks and whose form and motions were lighter than the chamois of the hills.
2

noun
Ellipsis of chamois leather (“soft pliable leather originally made from the skin of chamois (nowadays the hides of deer, sheep, and other species of goat are alternatively used)”).

[H]e seldom donned his armour, substituted costly damask and silk for his war-worn shamoy doublet, and affected at his advanced time of life more gaiety of attire than his contemporaries remembered as distinguishing his early youth.
3

noun
An absorbent cloth used for cleaning and polishing, formerly made of chamois leather.

I took them, breathed on them, polished them with a chamois and hung them on the chandelier.
4

noun
hoofed mammal of mountains of Eurasia having upright horns with backward-hooked tips

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms chammyshammyshamwow

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

chamois cloth
a soft piece of chamois leather used to clean or polish surfaces

Noun + noun

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French chamois, from Late Latin camox, from Gaulish camox (5th c. AD, Polemius Silvius), probably from an extinct Alpine language (Raetic, Ancient Ligurian), possibly Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“without horns”). Compare also Old High German gamiza (“chamois”) (whence modern German Gämse).

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# chamois

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈʃæmwɑːz/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈʃæmwɑː/
**Frequency rank:** 47338

## Meanings
1. A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.
2. Ellipsis of chamois leather (“soft pliable leather originally made from the skin of chamois (nowadays the hides of deer, sheep, and other species of goat are alternatively used)”).
3. An absorbent cloth used for cleaning and polishing, formerly made of chamois leather.
4. hoofed mammal of mountains of Eurasia having upright horns with backward-hooked tips

## Examples
- When my father returned from Milan, he found playing with me in the hall of our villa a child fairer than pictured cherub – a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks and whose form and motions were lighter than the chamois of the hills.
- [H]e seldom donned his armour, substituted costly damask and silk for his war-worn shamoy doublet, and affected at his advanced time of life more gaiety of attire than his contemporaries remembered as distinguishing his early youth.
- I took them, breathed on them, polished them with a chamois and hung them on the chandelier.

## Derived Forms
- chammy
- shammy
- shamwow

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French chamois, from Late Latin camox, from Gaulish camox (5th c. AD, Polemius Silvius), probably from an extinct Alpine language (Raetic, Ancient Ligurian), possibly Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“without horns”). Compare also Old High German gamiza (“chamois”) (whence modern German Gämse).

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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