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chameleon . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
chameleon , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
chameleon in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
chameleon you have here. The definition of the word
chameleon will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
chameleon , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Cape Dwarf Chameleon
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English camelion , from Old French cameleon , from Latin chamaeleon , from Ancient Greek χαμαιλέων ( khamailéōn ) , from χαμαί ( khamaí , “ on the earth, on the ground ” ) + λέων ( léōn , “ lion ” ) ; ultimately a calque from Akkadian 𒌨𒈤 𒊭 𒆠 ( nēšu ša qaqqari , “ chameleon, reptile ” , literally “ lion of the ground", "predator that crawls upon the ground ” ) . The spelling was re-latinized in the early 18th century. The physics sense was coined by Justin Khoury and Amanda Weltman in 2003 in a paper in Physical Review Letters .
Pronunciation
enPR : kəmē'lēən, kəmēl'yən ; IPA (key ) : /kəˈmi.li.ən/ , /kəˈmil.jən/
Audio (Southern England) (file )
Noun
chameleon (plural chameleons )
A small to mid-size reptile , of the family Chamaeleonidae , and one of the best known lizard families able to change color and project its long tongue.
( figuratively ) A person with inconstant behavior; one able to quickly adjust to new circumstances .
( physics ) A hypothetical scalar particle with a non-linear self-interaction, giving it an effective mass that depends on its environment : the presence of other fields.
Derived terms
Translations
reptile
Afrikaans: verkleurmannetjie (af) , trapsuutjie (af)
Akkadian: 𒌨𒈤𒊭𒆠 ( nēšu ša qaqqari )
Albanian: kameleon (sq) m
Amharic: እስስት ( ʾəssət )
Arabic: حِرْبَاء m ( ḥirbāʔ )
Hijazi Arabic: حرباية f ( ḥirbāya )
Moroccan Arabic: تاتة f ( tāta ) , بوة f ( buwwa )
Aragonese: camalión m
Aramaic: זָקִיתָא ( zaqita )
Armenian: քամելեոն (hy) ( kʻameleon ) , գետնառյուծ (hy) ( getnaṙyuc )
Assamese: কোকলোঙা ( kükolüṅa )
Asturian: camaleón m
Awadhi: गिरगिट ( girgiṭ )
Azerbaijani: buqələmun (az)
Basque: kameleoi
Belarusian: хамелео́н m ( xamjeljeón )
Bemba: lufwíáññembâ
Bengali: বহুরূপী (bn) ( bohurupi ) , গিরগিটি (bn) ( girgiṭi )
Breton: gwerlas m
Bulgarian: хамелео́н (bg) m ( hameleón )
Burmese: ပုတ်သင်ညို (my) ( putsangnyui )
Catalan: camaleó (ca) m
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴽⴰⵛⵛⴰ m ( kacca ) , ⵜⴰⵜⴰ f ( tata ) , ⵜⴰⵢⵢⵓ f ( tayyu )
Chamicuro: tsenemo
Cherokee: ᎤᎵᏑᏫᏒ ᎠᏓᏁᏟᏴᏍᎩ ᏘᏲᎭᎵ ( ulisuwisv adanetliyvsgi tiyohali ) , ᎧᎻᎵᎣᏂ ( kamilioni )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 變色龍 / 变色龙 (zh) ( biànsèlóng ) , 變色蜥蜴 / 变色蜥蜴 (zh) ( biànsè xīyì ) , 避役 (zh) ( bìyì )
Czech: chameleon (cs) m , chameleón (cs) m
Danish: kamæleon (da) c
Dutch: kameleon (nl) m or n
Esperanto: ĥameleono (eo)
Estonian: kameeleon
Faroese: kamelón f
Finnish: kameleontti (fi)
French: caméléon (fr) m
Galician: camaleón (gl) m
Georgian: ქამელეონი ( kameleoni )
German: Chamäleon (de) n
Greek: χαμαιλέων (el) m ( chamailéon )
Ancient: χαμαιλέων m ( khamailéōn )
Gujarati: કાચંડો ( kācaṇḍo )
Hebrew: זִקִּית / זיקית (he) f ( ziqit )
Hindi: गिरगिट (hi) m ( girgiṭ )
Hungarian: kaméleon (hu)
Icelandic: kameljón n , kamelljón n
Ido: kameleono (io)
Indonesian: bunglon (id)
Italian: camaleonte (it) m
Japanese: カメレオン (ja) ( kamereon )
Kannada: ಗೋಸುಂಬೆ (kn) ( gōsumbe ) , ಓತೀಕಾಟ (kn) ( ōtīkāṭa ) , ಊಸರವಳ್ಳಿ (kn) ( ūsaravaḷḷi )
Kazakh: хамелеон ( xameleon )
Kikuyu: kĩĩmbu class 7 , mũriyũ class 3 ( three-horned )
Korean: 카멜레온 (ko) ( kamelle'on )
Kyrgyz: хамелеон (ky) ( hameleon )
Latvian: hameleons m
Lithuanian: chameleonas m
Macedonian: камелеон m ( kameleon )
Malagasy: tana (mg) , tandrondro (mg) , tarondro
Malay: sesumpah , sumpah-sumpah , kameleon
Malayalam: ഓന്ത് (ml) ( ōntŭ )
Maltese: kamaleont m
Manx: kameelyan
Maori: kamiriona
Mon:ဟကုဲ (mnw)
Mongolian: хамелеон ( xameleon )
Nahuatl: tepaxin
Navajo: naʼashǫ́ʼii łahgo aníʼdoolníiłii
Northern Sotho: leôbu
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kameleon (no) m
Nynorsk: kameleon m
Occitan: camaleon (oc) m
Odia: ଏଣ୍ଡୁଅ ( eṇḍuô )
Pali: kakaṇṭaka m
Mon: ကကဏ္ဍက m ( kakaṇḍaka )
Persian: آفتابپرست (fa) ( âftâb-parast ) , خربا ( xorbâ )
Polish: kameleon (pl) m
Portuguese: camaleão (pt) m
Punjabi: ਗਿਰਗਿਟ ( girgiṭ )
Romanian: cameleon (ro) m
Russian: хамелео́н (ru) m ( xameleón )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: камелеон m
Roman: kameleon (sh) m
Shona: rwavhi
Slovak: chameleón (sk) m
Slovene: kameleon (sl) m
Spanish: camaleón (es) m
Sundanese: londok
Swahili: kinyonga (sw) , lumbwi , kigeugeu
Swazi: lú-nwabú
Swedish: kameleont (sv) c
Tagalog: hunyango (tl)
Tajik: офтобгардон ( oftobgardon )
Tamil: பச்சோந்தி (ta) ( paccōnti )
Tashelhit: ⴽⴰⵛⵛⴰ m ( kašša ) , ⵜⴰⵛⴰⵛⵜⵓⵅⵜ f ( tašaštuxt ) ( Imizmiz region )
Tatar: хамелеон ( xameleon )
Telugu: తొండ (te) ( toṇḍa ) , ఊసరవెల్లి (te) ( ūsaravelli )
Ternate: bakebake
Thai: คาเมเลี่ยน ( kaa-mee-lîian )
Turkish: bukalemun (tr)
Ukrainian: хамелео́н m ( xameleón )
Uzbek: xameleon (uz) , buqalamun (uz)
Vietnamese: tắc kè hoa , tắc kè bông
Walloon: cameleyon (wa) m
Wolof: kàkkatar
person with inconstant behavior
Adjective
chameleon (not comparable )
Describing something that changes color .
The wall was covered with a chameleon paint.
References
Further reading
“chameleon ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
“chameleon ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
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
Czech
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Noun
chameleon m anim
chameleon
Declension
Declension of chameleon (hard masculine animate )