Sunday, July 26, 2015

Chameleon - Etymology

Chameleon

The English word chameleon is a simplified spelling of Latin chamaeleōn, a borrowing of the Greek χαμαιλέων (khamailéōn), a compound of χαμαί (khamaí) "on the ground" and λέων (léōn) "lion". The Greek word is a calque translating the Akkadian nēš qaqqari, literally "lion of the ground".

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