camelo

From Old Galician-Portuguese camelo, from Vulgar Latin *camēllus, from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-. Cognate with Portuguese camelo and Spanish camello.

• IPA^(key): /kaˈmelo/ [kɑˈme.lʊ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -elo

camelo m (plural camelos, feminine camela, feminine plural camelas)

1. camel
2. (informal) pusher, drug dealer

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “camelo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “camelo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “camelo”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

camēlō

1. dative/ablative singular of camēlus

• camello

From Vulgar Latin *camēllus, from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-. Cognate with Old Spanish camello.

• (Galicia) IPA^(key): /ka.ˈme.lo/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ka.ˈme.lʊ/

camelo m (plural camelos, feminine camela, feminine plural camelas)

1. camel
   • 13th century, Afonso X, [cantiga 476]; republished as Angelo Colocci, compiler, Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, Italy, c. 1525–1526, cantiga 476:

     Non quereu donzela fea / Que […] faça come cameles.

     I do not want an ugly maiden who stinks like a camel.

• Galician: camelo
• Portuguese: camelo (see there for further descendants)

• Manuel Ferreiro (2014–2025) “camelo”, in Universo Cantigas. Edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “camelo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “camelo”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antônio Geraldo da Cunha (2020–2025) “camelo”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do Português Medieval (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

From Old Galician-Portuguese camelo, from Vulgar Latin *camēllus, from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-. Cognate with Galician camelo and Spanish camello.

• Rhymes: -elu
• Hyphenation: ca‧me‧lo

camelo m (plural camelos, feminine camela, feminine plural camelas)

1. camel
2. (colloquial, derogatory) arsehole, jerk
3. (historical, weaponry) a short piece of artillery
4. (Rio de Janeiro, colloquial) bicycle

• → Kadiwéu: gameelo

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek κάμιλος (kámilos).^[1]

• Rhymes: -elu
• Hyphenation: ca‧me‧lo

camelo m (plural camelos)

1. (nautical) hawser

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• Rhymes: -ɛlu
• Hyphenation: ca‧me‧lo

camelo

1. first-person singular present indicative of camelar

• “camelo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
• “camelo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “camelo”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025

• IPA^(key): /kaˈmelo/ [kaˈme.lo]
• Rhymes: -elo
• Syllabification: ca‧me‧lo

Deverbal from camelar.

camelo m (plural camelos)

1. bluff, hoax, con
2. baloney (fake news)
3. (colloquial) flattery, gallantry (especially towards women)

   Synonyms: piropo, halago, galantería

camelo

1. first-person singular present indicative of camelar

• “camelo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024