camel

Where does the word "camel" come from? It comes from Semitic gamal, passing through Greek and Latin before entering English (1200s).

Camel’s story begins in Semitic: gamal meant “a camel.” The general root for the desert-dwelling pack animal across Semitic languages. By ancient, the word had taken hold in Greek as kamelos. The Hebrew 'gamal' and Phoenician forms came to Greece through Levantine traders. From there it passed into Latin as camelus by ancient. Old English had borrowed 'camel' earlier from Latin, reinforced later by Norman French 'chamel'. It reached English by 1200s as camel. Settled as the English word, from Old English camel, reinforced by Old North French camel, both from Latin camelus. Today, camel means a large, humped mammal adapted for desert travel.

1. Stage 1 · Semitic · ancient gamal "a camel", the general root for the desert-dwelling pack animal across Semitic languages.
2. Stage 2 · Greek · ancient kamelos "a camel", the Hebrew 'gamal' and Phoenician forms came to Greece through Levantine traders.
3. Stage 3 · Latin · ancient camelus "a camel", Old English had borrowed 'camel' earlier from Latin, reinforced later by Norman French 'chamel'.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1200s camel "a large desert-dwelling mammal with one or two humps", settled as the English word, from Old English camel, reinforced by Old North French camel, both from Latin camelus.