chameleon

See also: chamaeleon, Chamaeleon, chameleón, chaméléon, and chamæleon

English

Cape Dwarf Chameleon

Alternative forms

• chamaeleon
• chamæleon

Etymology

From Middle English camelion, from Old French cameleon, from Latin chamaeleon, from Ancient Greek χαμαιλέων (khamailéōn), from χαμαί (khamaí, “on the earth, on the ground”) + λέων (léōn, “lion”). Spelling relatinized early 18c.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /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.
   • 2014, Michael White, "Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe", The Guardian, 8 September 2014:

     He is a political chameleon, as charming to business leaders he met privately in Aberdeen on Friday night as he has been inspiring to distressed and desperate Labour defectors in Glasgow and beyond.

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.

Derived terms

• chameleonize

Translations

reptile

• Afrikaans: verkleurmannetjie, trapsuutjie
• Albanian: kameleon (sq) m
• Amharic: እስስት (ʾəsst)
• Arabic: حِرْبَاء‏‎ m (ḥirbāʾ)

  Moroccan Arabic: تاتا‏‎ f (tæta), بوّة‏‎ f (bəwwa)

• Armenian: քամելեոն (hy) (kʿameleon), գետնառյուծ (hy) (getnaṙyuc)
• Asturian: camaleón m
• Azeri: buqələmun (az)
• Basque: kameleoi
• Belarusian: хамелео́н m (xamjeljeón)
• Bemba: lufwíáññembâ
• Breton: gwerlas m
• Bulgarian: хамелео́н (bg) m (hameleón)
• Burmese: ပုတ်သင်ညို (my) (putsangnyui)
• Catalan: camaleó m
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴽⴰⵛⵛⴰ m (kašša), ⵜⴰⵜⴰ f (tata), ⵜⴰⵢⵢⵓ f (tayyu)
• Chamicuro: tsenemo
• Cherokee: ᎤᎵᏑᏫᏒ ᎠᏓᏁᏟᏴᏍᎩ ᏘᏲᎭᎵ (ulisuwisv adanetliyvsgi tiyohali), ᎧᎻᎵᎣᏂ (kamilioni)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 變色龍 (zh), 变色龙 (zh) (biànsèlóng), 變色蜥蜴, 变色蜥蜴 (biànsè xīyì), 避役 (zh) (bìyì)

• Czech: chameleon (cs) m, chameleón (cs) m
• Danish: kamæleon (da) c
• Dutch: kameleon (nl) m, n
• Esperanto: ĥameleono
• Estonian: kameeleon
• Faroese: kamelón f
• Finnish: kameleontti (fi)
• French: caméléon (fr) m
• Galician: camaleón (gl) m
• Georgian: ქამელეონი (kameleoni)
• German: Chamäleon (de) n
• Greek: χαμαιλέων (el) m (chamailéon)

  Ancient: χαμαιλέων m (khamailéōn)

• Hebrew: זיקית‏‎ (he) f (ziqyt)
• Hindi: गिरगिट (hi) (girgiṭ)
• Hungarian: kaméleon (hu)
• Icelandic: kameljón n, kamelljón n
• Ido: kameleono (io)
• Indonesian: bunglon (id)
• Italian: camaleonte (it) m
• Japanese: カメレオン (ja) (kamereon)
• Kazakh: хамелеон (xameleon)
• Korean: 카멜레온 (ko) (kamelleon)
• Kyrgyz: хамелеон (ky) (hameleon)

• Latvian: hameleons m
• Lithuanian: chameleonas m
• Macedonian: камелеон m (kameleon)
• Malay: sesumpah, sumpah-sumpah, kameleon
• Malayalam: ഓന്ത് (ml) (ōnt)
• Manx: kameelyan
• Maori: kamiriona
• Mongolian: хамелеон (hameleon)
• Nahuatl: tepaxin
• Navajo: naʼashǫ́ʼii łahgo ánééhé
• Northern Sotho: leôbu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kameleon m

  Nynorsk: kameleon m

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

  Cyrillic: камелеон m

  Roman: kameleon (sh) m

• Shona: rwavhi
• Slovak: chameleón m
• Slovene: kameleon (sl) m
• Spanish: camaleón (es) m
• Sundanese: londok
• Swahili: kinyonga (sw), lumbwi, kigeugeu
• Swazi: lú-nwabú
• Swedish: kameleont (sv) c
• Tagalog: hunyango (tl)
• Tajik: офтобгардон (oftobgardon)
• Tashelhit: ⴽⴰⵛⵛⴰ m (kašša), ⵜⴰⵛⴰⵛⵜⵓⵅⵜ f (tašaštuxt) (Imizmiz region)
• Telugu: తొండ (te) (toṃḍa)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: bukalemun (tr)
• Ukrainian: хамелео́н m (xameleón)
• Uzbek: xameleon (uz), buqalamun (uz)
• Vietnamese: tắc kè hoa
• Walloon: cameleyon (wa) m
• Wolof: kàkkatar

person with inconstant behavior

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

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

Holonyms

• (Individual Chamaeleonidae) Starship

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