chamois
UK /ˈʃæmwɑː/ · US /ʃæmˈwɑ/ noun, adjective, verb
Forms chamoises chamoix chamoising chamoised shamois shamoy
- noun A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.
- noun The traditional colour of chamois leather.
- noun An absorbent cloth used for cleaning and polishing, formerly made of chamois leather.
- noun (cycling) A padded insert which protects the groin from the bicycle saddle.
- adjective Chamois-colored.
- verb (transitive) To clean with a chamois leather cloth.
Synonyms
shammy chamois leather chammy chammy leather shammy leather Rupicapra rupicapra
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).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A small species of antelope (Rupicapra tragus), living on the loftiest mountain ridges of Europe, as the Alps, Pyrenees, etc. It possesses remarkable agility, and is a favorite object of chase.
- noun A soft leather made from the skin of the chamois, or from sheepskin, etc.; --called also chamois leather, and chammy or shammy leather. See Shammy.
Etymology [F. chamois, prob. fr. OG. gamz, G. gemse.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chamois”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details