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chamelle

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Etymology and origin of the French word chamelle

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1160 Benoît de Sainte-Maure, Roman de Troie More words from the 12th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek κάμηλος
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos)
Latin camēlus
French chameau
French chamelle
Italian cammello
Spanish camello
English camel
The word's journey

Pronunciation

Forms

chamelle f (plural chamelles, masculine chameau)[1] Old French chameille and camoille.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is formed from French chameau, whose Old French form was chameil, later chamel by a change of suffix.[4][6][3][5][2] The masculine comes from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), itself of Semitic origin.[2][5] Wiktionary instead derives the feminine from Latin camēla.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1160) has chameille for the female camel.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The Old French feminine did not last: in the 16th and 17th centuries people said chameau or chameau femelle, and chamelle was taken up again in the 19th century, first by Victor Hugo in Les Orientales (1829).[2] It is now the female of both the camel and the dromedary,[6] as in lait de chamelle “camel's milk”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1160 – Chameille appears in the Roman de Troie.[2][3]
  • 13th century – The Roman de Renart has chamoille.[7]
  • 16th–17th centuries – Chameau or chameau femelle is used instead.[2]
  • 1829 – Victor Hugo revives chamelle in Les Orientales.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A female camel or dromedary.[6][8][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Chamelle.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/chamelle. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·