entry
chameleon
/kəˈmiːliən/Color-changing lizard; adaptable or inconstant person
From Greek χαμαί (khamai) (On the ground) + Greek λέων (leōn) (Lion).
from Latin chamaeleon
+1 more sourcefrom Old French caméléon
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English camelion
Word Ancestry
from Latin chamaeleon
+1 more sourcefrom Old French caméléon
+1 more sourcefrom Middle English camelion
Picture an ancient Greek naming a strange little reptile: not a dragon, not a snake, but a “lion of the ground.” That is χαμαιλέων, built from khamai, “on the earth,” and leōn, “lion”—a wonderfully grand name for an animal that creeps along branches and shoots out a tongue like a living tape measure. The “lion” may have been suggested by the prominent crest on some chameleons, though Wiktionary records an even older possibility: a Greek calque of Akkadian “lion of the ground.” English first encountered the creature as Middle English camelion, and the missing h returned in the early 18th century when scholars gave the spelling a Latin makeover. By the 1580s, the lizard had lent its talent for changing appearance to people, producing the figurative sense of a social chameleon; in 2003, physicists Justin Khoury and Amanda Weltman borrowed the word again for a hypothetical environment-sensitive particle. Remember it this way: a chameleon is a lion only if the ground—and sometimes the crowd—changes beneath it.
The Story
Picture an ancient Greek naming a strange little reptile: not a dragon, not a snake, but a “lion of the ground.” That is χαμαιλέων, built from khamai, “on the earth,” and leōn, “lion”—a wonderfully grand name for an animal that creeps along branches and shoots out a tongue like a living tape measure. The “lion” may have been suggested by the prominent crest on some chameleons, though Wiktionary records an even older possibility: a Greek calque of Akkadian “lion of the ground.” English first encountered the creature as Middle English camelion, and the missing h returned in the early 18th century when scholars gave the spelling a Latin makeover. By the 1580s, the lizard had lent its talent for changing appearance to people, producing the figurative sense of a social chameleon; in 2003, physicists Justin Khoury and Amanda Weltman borrowed the word again for a hypothetical environment-sensitive particle. Remember it this way: a chameleon is a lion only if the ground—and sometimes the crowd—changes beneath it.
Modern Usage
A person who changes personality to blend into different groups
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries describe an adaptable person who shifts personality or behavior to fit different groups
Kin & Kindred
From 'χαμαί (khamai)'·On the ground; low, creeping, or dwarf-like
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'λέων (leōn)'·Lion
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary