chameleon
English · Thesaurus
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chameleon
- /kəˈmi.li.ən/
- /kəˈmil.jən/
Where it comes from
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”); ultimately a calque from Akkadian 𒌨𒈤𒊭𒆠 (nēšu ša qaqqari, “chameleon, reptile”, literally “lion of the ground", "predator that crawls upon the ground”). The spelling was re-Latinized in the early 18th century. The physics sense was coined by Justin Khoury and Amanda Weltman in 2003 in a paper in Physical Review Letters.
noun chameleons · chamaeleon · chamæleon
- 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. Milk of chameleon was recommended as an erotic stimulant by Avicenna.
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A person with inconstant behavior; one able to quickly adjust to new circumstances.
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.
Similar: Zelig
- 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.
adjective chamaeleon · chamæleon
- That changes or modifies its color. The wall was covered with a chameleon paint.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: chamaeleon, anole, sponge, shape-shifter, loofah, towel, chamæleon, cameleon, chamaeleonid, chameleonid, chamaeleontid, chamaeleontiform, chlamyphore, chelonian, chelyid, chelid
Translations
Every language
noun reptile
| Español | camaleón |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 카멜레온 kamelle'on |
| 日本語 | カメレオン kamereon |
| 中文 | 變色龍 /变色龙 biànsèlóng, 變色蜥蜴 /变色蜥蜴 biànsè xīyì, 避役 bìyì |
| हिन्दी | गिरगिट girgiṭ |
| Kiswahili | kinyonga, lumbwi, kigeugeu |
| Português | camaleão |
| Français | caméléon |
| Deutsch | Chamäleon |
| Italiano | camaleonte |
| Ελληνικά | χαμαιλέοντας chamailéontas |
| Română | cameleon |
| Русский | хамелео́н xameleón |
| Tiếng Việt | tắc kè hoa, tắc kè bông |
| العربية | حِرْبَاء ḥirbāʔ |
| עברית | זִקִּית, זיקית ziqit |
Talk about this word "chameleon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/chameleon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. chameleon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/chameleon "chameleon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/chameleon.Cite this
@misc{chameleon_2026,
title = {chameleon},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/chameleon},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
