Category:Chamois

Cham"ois, n. Etym: [F. chamois, prob. fr. OG. gamz, G. gemse.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: 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.

2. 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.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Chamois - Only in Deuteronomy 14:5 (Heb. zemer ), an animal of the deer or gazelle species. It bears this Hebrew name from its leaping or springing. The animal intended is probably the wild sheep (Ovis tragelephus), which is still found in Sinai and in the broken ridges of Stony Arabia. The LXX. and Vulgate render the word by camelopardus, i.e., the giraffe; but this is an animal of Central Africa, and is not at all known in Syria.