chamaeleon Latin · revision 4169

15 Oct 2026, 21:12 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Seneca the Younger|origins=grc χαμαιλέων}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [kʰaˈmae̯.ɫe.oːn]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kaˈmɛː.le.on]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''chamaeleōn''' ''m'' (genitive chamaeleōnis or chamaeleontis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|grc|χαμαιλέων|tr=khamailéōn|t=chameleon]], literally “ground lion”, from [[m|grc|χαμαί|tr=khamaí|t=on the ground]] and [[m|grc|λέων|tr=léōn|t=lion]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) Wiktionary regards the Greek as a calque of [[akk|nēšu ša qaqqari|t=lion of the ground]].^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Seneca the Younger compares the changing colours of clouds with chameleons.^(OLD 2012) Köbler names Pliny the Elder as its first source and dates Seneca 4 BC–65 AD.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was the lizard that changes its colour, described by Pliny and Gellius.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Isidore of Seville says it has no single colour but is sprinkled with many, like the leopard, and changes easily to the colours it sees.^(Isidore)
+ 
+ It was also the name, often feminine, of two plants, a black and a white ''chamaeleon'', identified with thistles, in Celsus and Pliny.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Isidore gives its Latin name as ''viscarago'' because it produces birdlime.^(Isidore) Medieval writers confused it with the badger and the ostrich and used it of thistles and teasels, and British sources of insects.^(MLW)^(DMLBS) English ''chameleon'' is recorded in the mid-14th century as ''camelion''.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca the Younger mentions chameleons.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of a plant.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the lizard.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * mid-14th century – English ''camelion'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The [[m|en|chameleon]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # A [[m|en|thistle]]-like plant, the [[m|en|carline thistle]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The [[m|en|badger]]; an insect.^(MLW)^(DMLBS)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|chameleon]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}