camello

Old Spanish

Alternative forms

• camelo

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *camēllus, from Latin camēlus (additional /l/ due to influence from the ending -ĕllus, which did not however change the stressed vowel), from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˈmeʎo/

Noun

camello m (plural camellos)

1. camel
   • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 5v:

     Catarõ ⁊ vierõ vna requa de paganos de los de ẏſmael. E vinien de galaat cõ ſos camellos cargados de mercaduras e ẏuã a egipto

     They looked up and saw a pagan caravan, of those of Ishmael. And they were coming from Gilead with their camels loaded with goods, and they were headed to Egypt.

Descendants

• Ladino: kameyo (Latin spelling)
• Spanish: camello

Spanish

Alternative forms

• gamello (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish camello, from Vulgar Latin *camēllus, from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-. More at camel.

The sense of "drug dealer" comes from the fact that, in the early 20th century, dealers used to hide their drugs on their back when police came near. Some dealers even used to pretend to be hunchbacks, hiding the drugs in fake humps made of cardboard or tin.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kaˈmeʝo/ [kaˈme.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): (most of Spain and Latin America) /kaˈmeʝo/ [kaˈme.ʝo]
• IPA^(key): (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains) /kaˈmeʎo/ [kaˈme.ʎo]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /kaˈmeʃo/ [kaˈme.ʃo]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /kaˈmeʒo/ [kaˈme.ʒo]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

 

• Rhymes: -eʝo

• (most of Spain and Latin America) Rhymes: -eʝo
• (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains) Rhymes: -eʎo
• (Buenos Aires and environs) Rhymes: -eʃo
• (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) Rhymes: -eʒo

• Syllabification: ca‧me‧llo

Noun

camello m (plural camellos, feminine camella, feminine plural camellas)

1. camel

   Hyponym: dromedario

2. (informal) pusher, drug dealer

   Synonym: narcotraficante

   • 2019 March 11, “De Clint Eastwood siempre esperas más”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Existe algún momento divertido enlas aventuras de este camello tardío.

     There is some funny moment in the adventures of this late pusher.

Coordinate terms

• (Camelids) camélido; camello (dromedario, camello bactriano), llama, guanaco, alpaca, vicuña ^{(Category: es:Camelids)}

Derived terms

• acamellado
• camello bactriano
• camellón
• hacer de una pulga un camello

 

Descendants

• → Bikol Central: kamelyo
• → Tagalog: kamelyo

Further reading

• “camello”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014