chamois
/ʃæmˈwɑ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.47 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.
Countable; Uncountable
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Ellipsis of chamois leather (“soft pliable leather originally made from the skin of chamois (nowadays the hides of deer, sheep, and other species of goat are alternatively used)”).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An absorbent cloth used for cleaning and polishing, formerly made of chamois leather.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
Chamois-colored.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "Mirrors can be cleaned with warm water and ammonia or vinegar and polished with a chamois."
- "Once your paint has been restored, drying your car with a chamois is just about all you have to do to restore the luster."
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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ʃæmˈwɑ/
- British English: /ˈʃæmwɑː/