camel

English Online Dictionary. What means camel‎? What does camel mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkæml̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkæm(ə)l/
• Rhymes: -æməl
• Hyphenation: ca‧mel

Etymology 1

From Middle English camel, through Old English camel and Old Northern French camel (Old French chamel, modern French chameau), from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), from a Semitic source, ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-; compare Arabic جَمَل (jamal), Hebrew גמל (gamál), Aramaic ܓܡܠܐ (gamlā), Coptic ϭⲁⲙⲟⲩⲗ (camoul). As a marine device, from Dutch. As an ethnic slur, short for camelfucker, camel jockey, etc.

Noun

camel (plural camels)

2. A beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.

   Synonyms: (India (Anglo-Indian), Australia, colloquial) oont, ship of the desert

   Hypernyms: camelid, beast of burden, retromingent

   Hyponyms: Bactrian camel, deloul, dood, dromedarian, dromedary, hajeen, mehari

   Coordinate terms: bray, camlet, dromedarist, hajjan, hooshta, kajawah, mahmal, nose line, nose peg, sarwan, water bag, water cell; see also Category:en:Camelids
3. A light brownish color, like that of a camel (also called camel brown).

4. (typically in the plural) A vessel or tank, typically paired, used to make an object more buoyant.

   Synonym: caisson

   • 1961 April, H. Flint Ranney, "Whaling and Nantucket–The Decline: The Civil War, Petition to Congress, and the Camels", Historic Nantucket, Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 59:

     Nantucket Island is probably the only place in the United States where camels were put to work to solve the problem created by a sandbar. They were Marine camels, and like their live namesake, they were of a rugged construction and were designed to do very heavy work. In the shape of two large wooden boxes, the camels were flooded with sea water until they sank to a low level in the water; they were then arranged on each side of a heavily-loaded ship and drawn tightly together around the ship by means of heavy chains passing under the ship's hull. As the sea water was pumped out of the camels, they rose up to a higher level, raising the ship between them, and when fully emptied the camels and the ship were towed across the bar easily and safely because of the lesser draft. First used in Holland as early as 1688, the camels were invented by one M. M. Bakker, who named them for their great strength. The Dutch used them to carry large ships over the Pampas, which was a passage between two sandbanks in the Zyder Zee, opposite the mouth of the River Y, and about six miles from the city of Amsterdam. The Russians adopted the idea and used camels for carrying ships over the shoals at Neva...

5. (ethnic slur) A person of Middle Eastern origin.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Coeur d'Alene: keemel
• → Eastern Arrernte: kamule
• → Tsonga: kamela

Translations

Adjective

camel (not comparable)

1. Of a light brown color like that of a camel.

Descendants

• → Spanish: cámel

Etymology 2

From Afrikaans kameel.

Noun

camel (plural camels)

2. (South Africa, obsolete) Synonym of giraffe

Further reading

• camel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Malec, calme, macle

Middle English

Alternative forms

• camelle, kamel, kamell, camell, cammel, camayle, camaile, camaille, cameylle, camele
• (From Central Old French) chamel, chamayle, schamelle, chamelle, chamell, chamoil

Etymology

From Old Northern French camel, cameil, from Latin camēlus. Some forms are from or influenced by Old French chamel, chamoil.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkamɛl/, /kaˈmɛːl/, /kaˈmæi̯l/
• (From Central Old French) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃamɛl/, /t͡ʃaˈmɛːl/, /t͡ʃaˈmæi̯l/

Noun

camel (plural cameles)

1. camel (mammal of the genus Camelus)

Descendants

• English: camel
• Scots: camel

References

• “camē̆l, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-1.

Old French

Etymology

See chamel.

Noun

camel oblique singular, m (oblique plural cameus, nominative singular cameus, nominative plural camel)

1. (Old Northern French, Anglo-Norman) camel

Tocharian B

Etymology

An action noun from täm- (“be born”). Compare Tocharian A cmol.

Noun

camel n

1. birth, rebirth