Etymology 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 (čamoul). As a marine device, from Dutch. As an ethnic slur, short for camelfucker, camel jockey, etc.
1
A mammalian beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.
Returne our Mules and emptie Camels backe, That we may trauell into Siria, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
It is as hard to come, as for a Cammell / To threed the poſterne of a ſmall needles eie: […]1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], signature I3, verso:
2 more examples
Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
As sometimes happens in countries of small civilisation, a leader arose from among the Arabs. None knew from where he sprang, and it was said that he had been a camel driver.1907, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter IV, in The Explorer:
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A light brownish color, like that of a camel (also called camel brown).
3
A vessel or tank, typically paired, used to make an object more buoyant.
Typically in the plural
Near-synonym: pontoon
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...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
Board games, Chess, Games A fairy chess piece that is moved three squares in one direction and one at right angles to that direction in a single move, leaping over any intervening pieces.
The fers and camel can reach all the cells of one colour. The others are more restricted; the dummy cannot move at all, and the commuter can only move back and forth between two cells.2010 August 21, G. P. Jelliss, “Simple Chess Variants”, in Mayhematics, page 9:
Etymology 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 (čamoul). As a marine device, from Dutch. As an ethnic slur, short for camelfucker, camel jockey, etc.
1
Of a light brown color like that of a camel.
[…] try to select accessories that are in the same color family as your coat," says millinery designer Patricia Underwood. To pick up the weave of a brown tweed jacket, for instance, choose a camel hat and black gloves.1999, New Woman, volume 29, page 212: