chameleon

The story

1. Akkadian · derived from𒌨𒈤𒊭𒆠“chameleon, reptile”
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromχαμαιλέων
3. Latin · derived fromchamaeleon
4. Old French · derived fromcameleon
5. Middle English · inherited fromcamelion
6. English todaychameleon

From Middle English camelion, from Old French cameleon, from Latin chamaeleon, from Ancient Greek χαμαιλέων (khamailéōn), from χαμαί (khamaí, “on the earth, on the ground”) + λέων (léōn, “lion”); ultimately a calque from Akkadian 𒌨𒈤𒊭𒆠 (nēšu ša qaqqari, “chameleon, reptile”, literally “lion of the ground", "predator that crawls upon the ground”). The spelling was re-Latinized in the early 18th century. The physics sense was coined by Justin Khoury and Amanda Weltman in 2003 in a paper in Physical Review Letters.

Words from the same roots