camelo

See also: cameló, camelô, and camèło

Galician

camelo.

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese camelo, from Vulgar Latin *camēllus, from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-. Cognate with Portuguese camelo and Spanish camello.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈmelo/ [kɑˈme.lʊ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -elo

Noun

camelo m (plural camelos, feminine camela, feminine plural camelas)

1. camel
2. (informal) pusher, drug dealer

Coordinate terms

camelids: camélidosedit

• alpaca
• camelo
• dromedario
• guanaco
• llama
• vicuña

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “camelo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “camelo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “camelo”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Latin

Noun

camēlō

1. dative/ablative singular of camēlus

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• camello

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *camēllus, from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-. Cognate with Old Spanish camello.

Pronunciation

• (Galicia) IPA^(key): /ka.ˈme.lo/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ka.ˈme.lʊ/

Noun

camelo m (plural camelos, feminine camela, feminine plural camelas)

1. camel
   • 13th century, Afonso X, [cantiga 476]; republished as Angelo Colocci, compiler, Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, Italy, c. 1525–1526, cantiga 476:

     Non quereu donzela fea / Que […] faça come cameles.

     I do not want an ugly maiden who stinks like a camel.

Descendants

• Galician: camelo
• Portuguese: camelo (see there for further descendants)

References

• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “camelo”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “camelo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “camelo”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2020–2026), “camelo”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do português medieval [Historical and chronological vocabulary of Medieval Portuguese] (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

Portuguese

camelos

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese camelo, from Vulgar Latin *camēllus, from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-. Cognate with Galician camelo and Spanish camello.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈme.lu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈme.lu/

• Rhymes: -elu
• Hyphenation: ca‧me‧lo

Noun

camelo m (plural camelos, feminine camela, feminine plural camelas)

1. camel
2. (colloquial, derogatory) arsehole, jerk
3. (historical, weaponry) a short piece of artillery
4. (Rio de Janeiro, colloquial) bicycle

Coordinate terms

camelids: camelídeosedit

• alpaca
• camelo
• dromedário
• guanaco
• lhama / lama
• vicunha

Derived terms

• baba de camelo
• camelinho
• camelo-árabe
• camelo-bactriano
• camelo-doméstico

Descendants

• → Kadiwéu: gameelo

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κάμιλος (kámilos).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈme.lu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈme.lu/

• Rhymes: -elu
• Hyphenation: ca‧me‧lo

Noun

camelo m (plural camelos)

1. (nautical) hawser

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaˈmɛ.lu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐˈmɛ.lu/

• Rhymes: -ɛlu
• Hyphenation: ca‧me‧lo

Verb

camelo

1. first-person singular present indicative of camelar

References

• “camelo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “camelo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “camelo”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈmelo/ [kaˈme.lo]
• Rhymes: -elo
• Syllabification: ca‧me‧lo

Etymology 1

Deverbal from camelar.

Noun

camelo m (plural camelos)

1. bluff, hoax, con
2. baloney (fake news)
3. (colloquial) flattery, gallantry (especially towards women)

   Synonyms: piropo, halago, galantería

Etymology 2

Verb

camelo

1. first-person singular present indicative of camelar

Further reading

• “camelo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025