An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Gemse

by Friedrich Kluge

Gemse, feminine, ‘chamois,’ from the equivalent Middle High German gęmeȥe, gamȥ, Old High German *gamuȥ (gamȥ), masculine; although a corresponding word is wanting in the other Teutonic languages, there is no sufficient reason for regarding Old High German *gamiȥa, feminine, as borrowed (formed like Old High German hiruȥ, see Hirsch; Anglo-Saxon ganot, ‘waterfowl’; Middle High German krebeȥ, see Krebs). The Romance cognates (Italian camozza, French chamois) which are equivalent in sound tell rather in favour of their own foreign origin than that of the German word (in Latin the term was rupicapra). Perhaps Spanish and Portuguese gamo, ‘stag,’ is based upon a Gothic *gama, allied to Gemse (English game has probably no connection with the word?).