chameleon

plural chameleons · alternative archaic chamaeleon · alternative archaic chamæleon

1. A small to mid-size reptile, of the family Chamaeleonidae, and one of the best known lizard families able to change color and project its long tongue.

   Milk of chameleon was recommended as an erotic stimulant by Avicenna.

   1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 59

   1 more example

   A contagious neuro-ego-disease. A virus sticking to liars. We're the self-centered fuel to boost the new strain of fire. Adapting, shifting, lacking opinion. Our numbers exceeding the billions. Everly walking among ourselves down the corridor of chameleons.

   1998, “Corridor of Chameleons”, performed by Meshuggah

2. figurativelyA person with inconstant behavior; one able to quickly adjust to new circumstances.

   He is a political chameleon, as charming to business leaders he met privately in Aberdeen on Friday night as he has been inspiring to distressed and desperate Labour defectors in Glasgow and beyond.

   2014 September 8, Michael White, “Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: Zelig

3. natural sciencesA hypothetical scalar particle with a non-linear self-interaction, giving it an effective mass that depends on its environment: the presence of other fields.

alternative archaic chamaeleon · alternative archaic chamæleon

1. not comparableThat changes or modifies its color.

   The wall was covered with a chameleon paint.