χαμαιλέων

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Ancient Greek

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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χᾰμαιλέων (khamailéōnm (genitive χᾰμαιλέοντος); third declension

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

Inflection

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Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ nēšu(m) in Black, Jeremy, George, Andrew, Postgate, Nicholas (2000) A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, page 251

Further reading

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