noun
also ca·me·leon kəˈmēlyən, -lēən sometimes shə-
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: modification (influenced by Latin chamaeleon ) of Middle English camelion, from Middle French cameleon, camelion, from L. chamaeleon, from Greek chamaileōn, from chamai- chamae- + leōn lion — more at lion
1. : any of a group (Rhiptoglossa) of specialized slow-moving Old World acrodont lizards that have a laterally compressed body with the skin covered with small granules, a prehensile tail, opposed digits, very large independently movable eyeballs behind eyelids partially fused to leave only a small central opening, and an extremely elastic extensible tongue which can be shot out nearly the length of the animal to take the insects on which it feeds, and that display unusual ability to change the color of the skin in response to both external stimuli and internal factors
2.
a. : a fickle person ; especially : a person given to expedient or facile change in ideas or character
he was a chameleon and his rare capacity for recognizing what was required of him … was equalled only by his capacity for becoming it — Anthony West
b. : something subject to quick or frequent change especially in appearance
his goodness was a chameleon that changed its hue to the hue of the situation in which he found himself — Peggy Bennett
3. : any of various American lizards capable of changing their color ; especially : any of several members of the common genus Anolis