chameleon
/kəˈmiliən/kuh-MEE-lee-uhn
/kəˈmiliən/kuh-MEE-lee-uhn
Meaninga ground lion
Common meaning: a lizard that changes colour
- chamon the ground; low-growingLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1711 · scan
- leona lionLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1051 · scan
‘on the ground’ + ‘a lion’ → chameleon
Journey through time
Hybrid: Greek + Latin Its parts come from different languages; the combined form first appears in our sources in Latin.
Only the cham half is traced; the path of leon is not in our sources yet.
- cham — Greek χαμαί “on the ground; low-growing” (path traced)
- leon — Latin leō, -ōnis “a lion” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Parts join in Latin as chameleon.
- Greekχαμαί‘on the ground’
- Latinchameleon
- Middle Englishcamelionsource
- Englishchameleon‘a lizard that changes colour’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek χαμαί ‘on the ground; low-growing’ + Latin leō ‘a lion’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry leō, p. 1051 · dictionary scan
Roots
- leō, -ōnis Latin “a lion”
- χαμαί Greek “on the ground; low-growing”
Related words
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