κάμηλος

Forms

κᾰ́μηλος (kámēlos) m or f (genitive κᾰμήλου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Proto-West Semitic *gamal- (“camel”).^[1][2][3] Chantraine calls it a certain borrowing from West Semitic, comparing Biblical Hebrew גָּמָל (gāmāl); the word is not attested in Phoenician.^[2] Rosół lists the Semitic forms, among them Akkadian gammalu, itself a West Semitic loan in Akkadian.^[4] Hesychius records γαμάλη (gamálē) as the camel “among the Chaldaeans”.^[2][5] The η of the second syllable comes from the Ionic change of ᾱ to η.^[2][3] Strabo explains the place name Γαυγάμηλα (Gaugámēla) as “camel's house”.^[3][5]

From κάμηλος come Latin camēlus and the European words.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aeschylus mentions camels in the Suppliant Women (285).^[6][4] In early Greek the animal appears only in connection with Eastern peoples.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus also uses the feminine for a body of camels in an army, a camel corps.^[7][8] Aristotle describes both the Bactrian camel and the dromedary.^[8][2] The compound καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis) “camel-leopard” named the giraffe.^[2]

The Gospels use the camel in proverbs: it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, and the Pharisees swallow a camel.^[9][8] The medieval and modern word is Modern Greek καμήλα (kamíla), with a new ending perhaps under the influence of Latin camēla.^[10][11]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus mentions camels.^[6][12]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus describes camels and a camel corps.^[8][7][12]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle describes the Bactrian camel and the dromedary.^[8][12]
• 2nd century BC – Agatharchides uses καμηλοπάρδαλις for the giraffe.^[2][12]
• 1st century AD – The Gospels use the camel in proverbs.^[9]
• Middle Ages – The everyday word becomes Modern Greek καμήλα (kamíla).^[10][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A camel, both the Bactrian camel and the dromedary.^[8][7]
2. (collective, feminine) A body of camels in an army, camelry.^[7][8]

Word family

• καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis)
• καμηλίτης (kamēlítēs)

Related words

• Latin camēlus
• English camel

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
3. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
5. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
12. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge