χαμαιλέων

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”) +‎ λέων (léōn, “lion”);^[1] ultimately a calque of Akkadian 𒌨𒈤 𒊭 𒆠 (nēšu ša qaqqari, “chameleon, reptile”, literally “lion of the ground", "predator that crawls upon the ground”).^[2]^[3]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰa.mai̯.lé.ɔːn/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kʰa.mɛˈle.on/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /xa.mɛˈle.on/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /xa.meˈle.on/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /xa.meˈle.on/

Noun

χᾰμαιλέων • (khămailéōn) m (genitive χᾰμαιλέοντος); third declension

chameleon
type of plant, so called because of its colour-changing leaves

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ χᾰμαιλέων; τοῦ χᾰμαιλέοντος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ χᾰμαιλέων ho khămailéōn	τὼ χᾰμαιλέοντε tṑ khămailéonte	οἱ χᾰμαιλέοντες hoi khămailéontes
Genitive	τοῦ χᾰμαιλέοντος toû khămailéontos	τοῖν χᾰμαιλεόντοιν toîn khămaileóntoin	τῶν χᾰμαιλεόντων tôn khămaileóntōn
Dative	τῷ χᾰμαιλέοντῐ tōî khămailéontĭ	τοῖν χᾰμαιλεόντοιν toîn khămaileóntoin	τοῖς χᾰμαιλέουσῐ / χᾰμαιλέουσῐν toîs khămailéousĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸν χᾰμαιλέοντᾰ tòn khămailéontă	τὼ χᾰμαιλέοντε tṑ khămailéonte	τοὺς χᾰμαιλέοντᾰς toùs khămailéontăs
Vocative	χᾰμαιλέον khămailéon	χᾰμαιλέοντε khămailéonte	χᾰμαιλέοντες khămailéontes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Greek: χαμαιλέοντας m (chamailéontas, “chameleon”)
→ Latin: chamaeleōn
- Catalan: camaleó
- Old French: cameleon
  - → Middle English: camelion
    - English: chameleon
  - French: caméléon
- → German: Chamäleon
→ Russian: хамелео́н m (xameleón)
→ Old Georgian: მსუენ-ლომი (msuen-lomi) (calque)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “χαμαί (> COMP > on χαμαι-λέων)”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1612-3
^ Critical and Philological Notes: Tablet XI, Note 314 in Andrew R. George (2003) The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts, Volume II, Oxford University Press, pages 896-897
^ nēšu(m) in Black, Jeremy, George, Andrew, Postgate, Nicholas (2000) “χαμαιλέων”, in A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, via the electronic Babylonian Library, page 251