cammello

Forms

cammello m (plural cammelli)^[1] Early forms include Old Italian camelo, Old Italian camel, Old Italian gamello and Old Italian gamelo.^[2] The feminine is cammella;^[3][4][5] camello is rare and camelo archaic.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin camēlus (“camel”), in the variant camellus, which is recorded in Latin from Pomponius and Cicero.^{[6][7][8][9][1]} DELI explains the ⟨ll⟩ by analogy with the many Italian words in -ello.^[6] The early texts have Old Italian camelo beside the form with ⟨ll⟩,^[9][2] and the forms with ⟨g⟩ go back to Latin gamellus, recorded by Scaurus.^[6][9] Venetian gambelo, in early texts from Venice, owes their ⟨mb⟩ perhaps to gamba (“leg”).^[10][11]

The same Latin word gave French chameau, Occitan camel, Catalan camell, Spanish camello and Portuguese gamelo.^[7][12] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), of Semitic origin: Nocentini compares Biblical Hebrew גָּמָל (gāmāl, “camel”), and Wiktionary also Arabic جَمَل (jamal).^[7][1][8] GRADIT gives a Phoenician source.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Brunetto Latini's Tesoretto, before 1274, for the ruminant of the desert with humps on its back.^[2] Zingarelli dates the word to 1266, and DELI's first example is Bono Giamboni, before 1292.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the word for camel-hair cloth and camel skin, as a shop name, and for stars of the constellation Taurus, translated from Arabic.^[2] DELI records the cloth at Prato in 1384.^[6] Phrases include inghiottire cameli, not to be fussy (1459), and an inchino di camelo, a deep, servile bow (1585).^[9] Cammelliere, camel driver, is found before 1405.^[6]

The word was also given to a part of the stocking frame and to an old device for lifting ships over shallows with pontoons filled with water and then emptied.^[10][14] Today cammello is also the colour of camel hair, used after a noun as an invariable adjective (una borsa cammello).^[13][4][15]

Timeline

• Before 1274 – Brunetto Latini uses the word in the Tesoretto.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses cammello.^[6]
• 1373–1374 – Boccaccio writes camelo in his commentary on Dante.^[9]
• 1384 – Camello “camel-hair cloth” is recorded at Prato.^[6]
• Before 1405 – Cammelliere is recorded in L. Frescobaldi.^[6]
• 1459 – Inghiottire cameli is recorded.^[9]
• 1585 – Garzoni writes of an inchino di camelo.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The camel, specifically the two-humped Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) of Central Asia, used as a pack and riding animal.^[13][16][14]
2. (zoology) Any animal of the genus Camelus, including the dromedary; with a capital, the genus itself.^[13][3][4]
3. Soft, light cloth made of camel hair, or of wool or goat hair like it: un soprabito di cammello.^[13][16][4]
4. The light brown colour of camel hair.^[13][15]
5. (historical, nautical) A device of pontoons for lifting ships over shallow water.^[14]

Adjective

1. (invariable) Camel-coloured, light brown: guanti cammello.^[13][16][3]

Word family

• cammelliere
• cammellino
• cammellone

Related words

• dromedario
• Latin camelus

Usage notes

The GDLI has a separate cammello, the bowl of a pipe, a diminutive of camino, used by Imbriani.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 10, 11
10. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 215
11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
16. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
17. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 2, 585