What is "cameo"

Cameo \Cam"e*o\ (k[a^]m"[-e]*[-o]), n.; pl. Cameos (k[a^]m"[-e]*[=o]z). [It. cammeo; akin to F. cam['e]e, cama["i]eu, Sp. camafeo, LL. camaeus, camahutus; of unknown origin.] A carving in relief, esp. one on a small scale used as a jewel for personal adornment, or like.

Note: Most cameos are carved in a material which has layers of different colors, such stones as the onyx and sardonyx, and various kinds of shells, being used. The classical cameos made in Italy are carved on a seashell (see cameo conch, below), having an olive figure carved from the inner layer of the shell in relief on the white background of the outer layer of the shell.

Cameo conch (Zo["o]l.), a large, marine, univalve shell, esp. Cassis cameo, Cassis rua, and allied species, used for cutting cameos. See Quern conch.

early 15c., kaadmaheu, camew, chamehieux and many other spellings (from early 13c. in Anglo-Latin), "carved precious stone with two layers of colors," from Old French camaieu and directly from Medieval Latin cammaeus, which is of unknown origin, perhaps ultimately from Arabic qamaa'il "flower buds," or Persian chumahan "agate." Transferred sense of "small character or part that stands out from other minor parts" in a play, etc., is from 1928, from earlier meaning "short literary sketch or portrait" (1851), a transferred sense from cameo silhouettes.

n. 1 A piece of jewelry, etc., carved in relief. 2 A single very brief appearance, especially by a prominent celebrity in a movie or song. vb. To appear in a cameo role.

n. engraving or carving in low relief on a stone (as in a brooch or ring)

Cameo is an American soul-influenced funk group that formed in the early 1970s. Cameo was initially a 14-member group known as the New York City Players; this name was later changed to Cameo to avoid a lawsuit from Ohio Players, another group from that era.

As of 2009, some of the original members continue to perform together, while two others were hired by the hip hop group Outkast. In 2015, Cameo announced a new residency show at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, opening March 2016.

Cameo is a cultivar of apple, discovered by chance by the Caudle family in a Dryden, Washington orchard in 1987. Its parentage is uncertain; it may be a cross between ' Red Delicious' and ' Golden Delicious', since it was found near orchards of those fruits; it also appears similar to the original 'Delicious' cultivar. It is bright red striped over creamy orange, firm and crisp with an aromatic flavor. It is among the top nine most grown apples in Washington state.

Cameo may refer to:

Cameo is a method of carving an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel made in this manner. It nearly always features a raised (positive) relief image; contrast with intaglio, which has a negative image. Originally, and still in discussing historical work, cameo only referred to works where the relief image was of a contrasting colour to the background; this was achieved by carefully carving a piece of material with a flat plane where two contrasting colours met, removing all the first colour except for the image to leave a contrasting background.

Today the term may be used very loosely for objects with no colour contrast, and other, metaphorical, terms have developed, such as cameo appearance. This derives from another generalized meaning that has developed, the cameo as an image of a head in an oval frame in any medium, such as a photograph.

Cameo is the eighth studio album released by singer Dusty Springfield. Cameo is her first LP for the ABC Dunhill Records label. It was recorded in the States between July and October 1972 and released in the UK (by Philips Records) in May 1973, having appeared in the States some three months earlier. Cameo was produced by Steve Barri, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter who later went on to write and produce major hits for among others Glen Campbell, The Four Tops and The Tavares. The album also included material written by Alan O'Day, David Gates, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson and Van Morrison and among the all-star line up of musicians contributing were Hal Blaine, Paul Humphrey, Larry Carlton, Wilton Felder, Carol Kaye, Victor Feldman, Michael Omartian, Venetta Fields and Clydie King.

While Cameo was only a moderate critical success and a commercial failure in 1973 – charting neither in the UK nor the US – it has since been re-evaluated by both fans and music critics alike and is now often cited as one of the highlights of Springfield's recording career alongside 1969's Dusty in Memphis. A planned second album on the ABC Dunhill label with the working title of Elements (eventually re-titled Longing), was started, but never finished, due to Springfield's personal problems at the time. Most of the uncompleted album Longing can also be found on the Hip-O Records compilation Beautiful Soul, released in the United States in 2001.

Cameo was digitally remastered and released on CD for the first time in Europe by Mercury/ Universal Music in 2002, though not containing any bonus tracks. Due to its relative obscurity upon the LP's initial release in 1973, Cameo is considered to be one of the rarer titles of Springfield's official catalogue/discography, and hard to find on any format, though its increased popularity in recent years due to the CD release and digital music file sharing has alleviated that difficulty to a good degree.