chameleon

See also chamaeleon, chamæleon, and Chamaeleon

English

Wikipedia

Cape Dwarf Chameleon

Alternative forms

• chamaeleon
• chamæleon

Etymology

From Latin chamaeleon, from Ancient Greek χαμαιλέων (khamaileōn), from χαμαί (khamai, “on the earth, on the ground”) + λέων (leon, “lion”). First attested in 1340.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəˈmiːlɪən/, /kəˈmiːljən/

Noun

chameleon (plural chameleons)

1. A small to mid-size reptile, of the family Chamaeleonidae, and one of the best known lizard families able to change color and project its long tongue.
2. A person with inconstant behavior; one able to quickly adjust to new circumstances.
3. (physics) A hypothetical scalar particle with a non-linear self-interaction, giving it an effective mass that depends on its environment: the presence of other fields.

Translations

reptile

• Afrikaans: verkleurmannetjie (af)
• Amharic: እስስት (am) (əsəst)
• Arabic: حرباء (ar) (ḥirbāʾ) m
• Armenian: քամելեոն (hy) (kʿameleon) , գետնառյուծ (hy) (getnaṙyuc) 
• Asturian: camaleón (ast) m
• Basque: kameleoi (eu)
• Belarusian: хамелеон (be) (xameleón) m 
• Bemba: lufwíáññembâ
• Breton: gwerlas (br) m
• Bulgarian: хамелеон (bg) (hameleón) m 
• Catalan: camaleó (ca) m
• Chamicuro: tsenemo
• Cherokee: ᎤᎵᏑᏫᏒ ᎠᏓᏁᏟᏴᏍᎩ ᏘᏲᎭᎵ (chr) (ulisuwisv adanetliyvsgi tiyohali), ᎧᎻᎵᎣᏂ (chr) (kamilioni)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 變色龍 (cmn), 变色龙 (cmn) (biànsèlóng), 變色蜥蜴 (cmn), 变色蜥蜴 (cmn) (biànsè xīyì)

• Czech: chameleon (cs) m, chameleón (cs) m
• Danish: kamæleon (da) c
• Dutch: kameleon (nl) m and n
• Esperanto: ĥameleono (eo)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Faroese: kamelón (fo) f
• Finnish: kameleontti (fi)
• French: caméléon (fr) m
• Galician: camaleón (gl) m
• German: Chamäleon (de) n
• Greek: χαμαιλέων (el) (chamailéon) m 

  Ancient: χαμαιλέων (khamaileōn) m

• Hebrew: זיקית (he) (ziqyt) f
• Hindi: गिरगिट (hi) (girgiṭ)
• Hungarian: kaméleon (hu)
• Icelandic: kameljón (is) n, kamelljón (is) n
• Ido: kameleono (io)
• Indonesian: bunglon (id)
• Italian: camaleonte (it) m
• Japanese: カメレオン (ja) (kamereon)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can

• Korean: 카멜레온 (ko) (kamelleon)
• Macedonian: камелеон (mk) (hameleon) m
• Malay: sesumpah (ms), sumpah-sumpah (ms), kameleon (ms)
• Malayalam: ഓന്ത് (ml) (ondhŭ)
• Manx: kameelyan (gv)
• Mongolian: хамелеон (mn) (hameleon) 
• Nahuatl: tepaxin (nah)
• Navajo: naʼashǫ́ʼii łahgo ánééhé
• Northern Sotho: leôbu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kameleon (nb) m

  Nynorsk: kameleon (nn) m

• Occitan: camaleon (oc) m
• Oriya: ଏଣ୍ଡୁଅ (or)
• Persian: آفتاب‌پرست (fa) (âftâb-parast)
• Polish: kameleon (pl) m
• Portuguese: camaleão (pt) m
• Romanian: cameleon (ro) m
• Russian: хамелеон (ru) (xameleón) m 
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: камелеон (sh) m

  Roman: kameleon (sh) m

• Shona: rwavhi (sn)
• Slovak: chameleón (sk) m
• Slovene: kameleon (sl) m
• Spanish: camaleón (es) m
• Sundanese: londok (su)
• Swahili: kinyonga (sw)
• Swati: lú-nwabú
• Swedish: kameleont (sv) c
• Telugu: తొండ (te) (toṅḍa)
• Turkish: bukalemun (tr)
• Ukrainian: хамелеон (uk) (xameleón) m 
• Vietnamese: tắc kè hoa (vi)
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: please add this translation if you can
• Wolof: kàkkatar (wo)
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

person with inconstant behavior

• Afrikaans: verkleurmannetjie (af)
• Catalan: camaleó (ca) m
• Dutch: kameleon (nl) m and n
• Greek: χαμαιλέων (el) (chamailéon) m 
• Italian: camaleonte (it) m

• Japanese: 気分屋 (ja) (きぶんや, kibun'ya)
• Portuguese: camaleão (pt) m
• Romanian: cameleon (ro) m
• Spanish: camaleón (es) m

Adjective

chameleon (not comparable)

1. Describing something that changes color.

   The wall was covered with a chameleon paint.

References

• chameleon in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• chameleon in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Czech

Noun

chameleon m

1. chameleon