The story
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kem-“without horns”
- Gaulish · derived fromcamox
- Late Latin · derived fromcamox
- Middle French · borrowed fromchamois
- English todaychamois
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).
Words from the same roots
Proto-Indo-European*kem- all →
hummelhamble
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.