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χαμαιλέων. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
χαμαιλέων, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
χαμαιλέων in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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χαμαιλέων will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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Ancient Greek
Etymology
From χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”) + λέων (léōn, “lion”);[1] ultimately a calque of Akkadian 𒌨𒈤𒊭𒆠 (nēšu ša qaqqari, “chameleon, reptile”, literally “lion of the ground", "predator that crawls upon the ground”).[2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kʰa.mai̯.lé.ɔːn/ → /xa.mɛˈle.on/ → /xa.meˈle.on/
Noun
χᾰμαιλέων • (khamailéōn) m (genitive χᾰμαιλέοντος); third declension
- chameleon
- type of plant, so called because of its colour-changing leaves
Inflection
Descendants
References
- ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “χαμαί (> COMP > on χαμαι-λέων)”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1612-3
- ^ Critical and Philological Notes: Tablet XI, Note 314 in Andrew R. George (2003) The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts, Volume II, Oxford University Press, pages 896-897
- ^ nēšu(m) in Black, Jeremy, George, Andrew, Postgate, Nicholas (2000) A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, page 251
Further reading