camouflage

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkæ.məˌflɑːʒ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French camouflage,^[2][3][4] from French camoufler (“to disguise”),^[2][4][5] Parisian slang from Italian camuffare (“to disguise”).^[2][3][5] The French verb was probably altered under the influence of camouflet “a puff of smoke blown in someone's face”.^[2][3][5] Etymonline suggests the Italian word may be a contraction of capo muffare “to muffle the head”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The disguising of guns, ships, camps and other military objects with paint, smoke or foliage (1917).^[6][3][5][4]

Semantic evolution

The word entered English during the First World War as noun and verb at once;^[5][6][4] the British navy called its painted version dazzle-painting.^[5] By 1918 it was used figuratively for any disguise or deception,^[6] and in natural history for an animal's protective colouring.^[7][1] From 1942 it was also used as an adjective for clothes in the patterns of military camouflage.^[4]

Timeline

• 1917 – noun and verb, military disguise.^[6][3][5][4]
• 1918 – figurative use.^[6]
• 1942 – adjective, in camouflage colours or patterns.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Concealment of troops or equipment by making them look like part of their surroundings.
2. Concealment by disguise or protective colouring.
3. Behaviour or a device meant to hide or deceive.
4. Fabric or clothing printed with irregular patches of green, brown and black.

Verb

1. To conceal by disguise or protective colouring.
2. To hide by misrepresentation.

Adjective

1. Made in the colours or patterns typical of camouflage.

Word family

• camouflager
• camouflagic
• camouflageable

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House