chamois
English
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]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).
Pronunciation
[edit]- Of the color sense (both nominal and adjectival) and of the animal sense (in the singular):
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈʃæmwɑː/
- Of the animal sense (in the plural):
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈʃæmwɑːz/
- Of the color sense (both nominal and adjectival) and of the sense concerning leather (in the singular):
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈʃæmi/
- Rhymes: -æmi
- Of the sense concerning leather (in the plural):
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈʃæmiz/
Noun
[edit]
chamois (countable and uncountable, plural chamoises or chamois)
- A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.
- 1816 June – 1831 October 31, Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, chapter I, in Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus (Standard Novels; IX), 3rd edition, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 22:
- 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.
- Short for chamois leather (“soft pliable leather originally made from the skin of chamois (nowadays the hides of deer, sheep, and other species of goat are alternatively used)”).
- 1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], chapter XVI, in Tales of the Crusaders. […], volume I (The Betrothed), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 317:
- [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.
- The traditional colour of chamois leather.
- chamois:
- An absorbent cloth used for cleaning and polishing, formerly made of chamois leather.
- 1926, Louise de Koven Bowen, Growing Up with a City, University of Illinois Press, →ISBN, page 39:
- I took them, breathed on them, polished them with a chamois and hung them on the chandelier.
- 1984, Cruising World, page 158:
- Mirrors can be cleaned with warm water and ammonia or vinegar and polished with a chamois.
- 1989, Popular Mechanics, page 146:
- Once your paint has been restored, drying your car with a chamois is just about all you have to do to restore the luster.
- (cycling) A padded insert which protects the groin from the bicycle saddle.
Alternative forms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]goat-like antelope
|
cloth
|
colour
Adjective
[edit]chamois (not comparable)
- Chamois-colored.
Verb
[edit]chamois (third-person singular simple present chamoises, present participle chamoising, simple past and past participle chamoised)
- (transitive) To clean with a chamois leather cloth.
- Synonym: shammy
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN
Anagrams
[edit]French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited 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”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]chamois m (plural chamois)
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “chamois”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
[edit]Romanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unadapted borrowing from French chamois.
Noun
[edit]chamois n (uncountable)
- chamois leather
Declension
[edit]| singular only | indefinite | definite |
|---|---|---|
| nominative-accusative | chamois | chamoisul |
| genitive-dative | chamois | chamoisului |
| vocative | chamoisule | |
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Middle French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Gaulish
- English terms derived from Raetic
- English terms derived from Ancient Ligurian
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æmi
- Rhymes:English/æmi/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English indeclinable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English short forms
- en:Cycling
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Browns
- en:Caprines
- en:Hides
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms inherited from Late Latin
- French terms derived from Late Latin
- French terms derived from Gaulish
- French terms derived from Raetic
- French terms derived from Ancient Ligurian
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- fr:Antelopes
- fr:Hides
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian unadapted borrowings from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian uncountable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns