shamoy

S1H4A1M3O1Y4

verb

To prepare leather by working oil into the skin.

Scrabble 14

Meanings

nounshamoy (countable and uncountable, plural shamoys)

plural shamoys

  1. countableobsoleteuncountableObsolete spelling of chamois.

    I afterwards adopted the precaution of using very thin shamoy gloves, and have often taken observations at still lower temperatures without injury.

    1843, Thomas Simpson. Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast of America, effected by the Officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company, during the years 1836—39 (London : S. & J. Bentley, Wilson, and Fley), p. 39
    1 more example

    [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.

    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
verbshamoy (third-person singular simple present shamoys, present participle shamoying, simple past and past participle shamoyed)

present singular third person shamoys · participle present shamoying · participle past shamoyed · past shamoyed

  1. To prepare leather by working oil into the skin.

Origin

From a phonetic spelling of chamois, a word borrowed from French.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

shamoy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shamoy

MLA

“shamoy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shamoy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shamoy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shamoy.

Source: shamoy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.