noun pl. chamois
- a small goat antelope (Rupicapra rupicapra) of the mountains of Europe and the Caucasus, having straight horns with the tips bent backward
- a soft leather made from its skin or from the skin of sheep, deer, goats, etc.
- a piece of this leather, used as a polishing cloth
Origin:
Fr < LL camox < a native Alpine word of IE orig.; akin to Gr kemas, young deer: see hind
transitive verb chamoised , chamoising
to polish with a chamois skin