chamois

/ˈʃæmwɑː/

//ˈʃæmwɑː// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"chamois" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“chamois” is uncommon English (frequency #54,682 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,682
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.

Corpus desk

Index EN-chamois · chamois · English

chamois · rank #54,682 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,682
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chapped

Nearest frequency peer: chapped (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “chamois”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “chamois” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for chamois
PropertyValue
Headwordchamois
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈʃæmwɑː/
Letters7
Frequency rank#54,682
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “chamois” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).chamoisfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “chapped” (#54,683), “cerebellar” (#54,680), “chapstick” (#54,684). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “chamois” is #54,682. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chamois is uncommon English at frequency #54,682 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈʃæmwɑː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for chamois in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 Ge… The correct English form is chamois, spelled C-H-A-M-O-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.
  2. 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. 3
    The traditional colour of chamois leather.
  4. 4
    An absorbent cloth used for cleaning and polishing, formerly made of chamois leather.
  5. 5
    A padded insert which protects the groin from the bicycle saddle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how chamois appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 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. [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.

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).

This word in other languages

gamuza(Español)chamois(Français)Gämse(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "chamois"?
"chamois" is spelled C-H-A-M-O-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃæmwɑː/.
What does "chamois" mean?
As a noun, "chamois" means: A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.
How do you pronounce "chamois"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chamois" is /ˈʃæmwɑː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "chamois"?
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 O... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "chamois", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

chapped#54,683clichéd#54,694busking#54,663buffing#54,662

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list