camouflage English · revision 2478

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkæ.məˌflɑːʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|camouflage]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|fr|camoufler|t=to disguise]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) Parisian slang [[der|it|camuffare|t=to disguise]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The French verb was probably altered under the influence of ''camouflet'' “a puff of smoke blown in someone's face”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Etymonline suggests the Italian word may be a contraction of ''capo muffare'' “to muffle the head”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The disguising of guns, ships, camps and other military objects with paint, smoke or foliage (1917).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word entered English during the First World War as noun and verb at once;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) the British navy called its painted version ''dazzle-painting''.^(Etymonline) By 1918 it was used figuratively for any disguise or deception,^(OED 1989) and in natural history for an animal's protective colouring.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary) From 1942 it was also used as an adjective for clothes in the patterns of military camouflage.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1917 – noun and verb, military disguise.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1918 – figurative use.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1942 – adjective, in camouflage colours or patterns.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Concealment of troops or equipment by making them look like part of their surroundings.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Concealment by disguise or protective colouring.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Behaviour or a device meant to hide or deceive.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Fabric or clothing printed with irregular patches of green, brown and black.^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To conceal by disguise or protective colouring.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To hide by misrepresentation.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made in the colours or patterns typical of camouflage.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[camouflager]]

+ * [[camouflagic]]

+ * [[camouflageable]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}