What is "chamaeleon"

chamaeleon \chamaeleon\ n. [L. Chamaeleon, Gr. chamaile`wn, lit., ``ground lion;'' chamai` on the ground + le`wn lion.] (Zo["o]l.) a lizard of Africa and Madagascar able to change skin color and having a projectile tongue.

Syn: chameleon.

Chameleon \Cha*me"le*on\ (k[.a]*m[=e]"l[-e]*[u^]n), n. [L. Chamaeleon, Gr. chamaile`wn, lit., ``ground lion;'' chamai` on the ground + le`wn lion. See Humble, and Lion.] (Zo["o]l.)

1. A lizardlike reptile of the genus Cham[ae]leo, of several species, found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The skin is covered with fine granulations; it has eyes which can move separately, the tail is prehensile, and the body is much compressed laterally, giving it a high back. It is remarkable for its ability to change the color of its skin to blend with its surroundings. [Also sometimes spelled chamaeleon.]

   Note: Its color changes more or less with the color of the objects about it, or with its temper when disturbed. In a cool, dark place it is nearly white, or grayish; on admitting the light, it changes to brown, bottle-green, or blood red, of various shades, and more or less mottled in arrangment. The American chameleons belong to Anolis and allied genera of the family Iguanid[ae]. They are more slender in form than the true chameleons, but have the same power of changing their colors.

2. a person who changes opinions, ideas, or behavior to suit the prevailing social climate; an opportunist.

   Chameleon mineral (Chem.), the compound called potassium permanganate, a dark violet, crystalline substance, KMnO4, which in formation passes through a peculiar succession of color from green to blue, purple, red, etc. See Potassium permanganate, under Potassium.

n. (context constellation English) A small circumpolar constellation of the southern sky, said to resemble a chamaeleon. It lies south of the constellations Carina and Musca.

Chamaeleon is a small constellation in the southern sky. It is named after the chameleon, a kind of lizard. It was first defined in the 16th century.

Chamaeleon (or Chameleon; ; c. 350 – c. 275 BC), was a Peripatetic philosopher of Heraclea Pontica. He was one of the immediate disciples of Aristotle. He wrote works on several of the ancient Greek poets, namely:

• περὶ Ἀνακρέοντος - On Anacreon
• περὶ Σαπφοῦς - On Sappho
• περὶ Σιμωνίδου - On Simonides
• περὶ Θεσπίδος - On Thespis
• περὶ Αἰσχύλου - On Aeschylus
• περὶ Λάσου - On Lasus
• περὶ Πινδάρου - On Pindar
• περὶ Στησιχόρου - On Stesichorus

He also wrote on the Iliad, and on Comedy . In this last work he treated, among other subjects, of the dances of comedy. This work is quoted by Athenaeus by the title περὶ τῆς ἀρχαίας κωμῳδίας, which is also the title of a work by the Peripatetic philosopher Eumelus. It would seem also that he wrote on Hesiod, for Diogenes Laërtius says, that Chamaeleon accused Heraclides Ponticus of having stolen from him his work concerning Homer and Hesiod. The above works were probably both biographical and critical. He also wrote works entitled περὶ θεῶν, and περὶ σατύρων, and some moral treatises, περι ἡδονῆς (which was also ascribed to Theophrastus), προτρεπικόν, and περι μέθης. Of all his works only a few fragments are preserved by Athenaeus and other ancient writers.

The modern constellation Chamaeleon is not included in the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions system of traditional Chinese uranography because its stars are too far south for observers in China to know about them prior to the introduction of Western star charts. Based on the work of Xu Guangqi and the German Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell in the late Ming Dynasty, this constellation has been classified as one of the 23 Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) under the name Little Dipper (小斗, Xiǎodǒu).

The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 蝘蜓座 (yǎn tíng zuò), meaning "the flying gecko constellation".