chameleon
A small to mid-size reptile, of the family Chamaeleonidae, and one of the best known…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.
» The chameleon died due to hunger.
Meaning
3 sensesA 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.
Chamäleon
хамелео́нxameleón
хамелео́нxameleón
lizard of Africa and Madagascar able to change skin color and having a projectile tongue
(figuratively)A person with inconstant behavior; one able to quickly adjust to new circumstances.
a changeable or inconstant person
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.
Examples
16 sentencesThe chameleon died due to hunger.
The chameleon can take on any color.
deDas Chamäleon kann jede beliebige Farbe annehmen.
The chameleon can change its skin color.
ruХамелеон может менять цвет своей кожи.
deDas Chamäleon kann seine Hautfarbe ändern.
Both squids and chameleons can change color.
deSowohl Tintenfische als auch Chamäleons können ihre Farbe ändern.
Both squids and chameleons can color change.
deSowohl Tintenfische als auch Chamäleons können ihre Farbe ändern.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English camelion, from Old French cameleon, from Latin chamaeleon, from AncienFrom 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: chameleonsSynonyms
2 synonyms- lizard of Africa and Madagascar able to change skin color and having a projectile tongue:chamaeleon
- a faint constellation in the polar region of the Southern Hemisphere near Apus and Mensa:Chamaeleon