camel
Syllables: ca·melUK/ˈkæml̩//ˈkæm(ə)l/
camel noun: a mammalian beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.
Noun (1)
camel (plural camels)
- 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... - 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...
- Synonyms:
- oont, ship of the desert
- Returne our Mules and emptie Camels backe,
- A light brownish color, like that of a camel (also called camel brown).
- A vessel or tank, typically paired, used to make an object more buoyant.
- 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...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
- A person of Middle Eastern origin.
- 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
Adjective
camel (not comparable)
- 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
Noun (2)
camel (plural camels)
Proper noun capitalized: Camel
Camel
- A river in Cornwall, England, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Padstow.
Noun (3) capitalized: Camel
Camel (plural Camels)
- A cigarette of a popular American brand.
- Mr. Martin bought the pack of Camels on Monday night in the most crowded cigar store on Broadway.1942, James Thurber, The Catbird Seat
camel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
camel in Hindi
- beast of burden
- ऊँट ū̃ṭ, उष्ट्र uṣṭra, शुतुर śutur, उंट uṇṭ, शुतर śutar
camel in Tamil
- beast of burden
- ஒட்டகம் oṭṭakam
camel in Marathi
- beast of burden
- उंट uṇṭa
camel in Urdu
- beast of burden
- اُون٘ٹ ū̃ṭ, شُتُر śutur, شُتَر śutar
More languagesFewer languages
- camel in Bengali
- উট uṭ
- camel in Telugu
- ఒంటె oṇṭe, లొట్టిపిట్ట loṭṭipiṭṭa
- camel in Malayalam
- ഒട്ടകം oṭṭakaṁ
- camel in Kannada
- ಒಂಟೆ oṇṭe
- camel in Punjabi
- ਊਠ ūṭha, ਸ਼ੁਤਰ śutar, اُوٹھ ūṭh, شُتَر śutar
- camel in Gujarati
- ઊંટ ū̃ṭa
- camel in Odia
- ଓଟ oṭa
- camel in Sanskrit
- उष्ट्र uṣṭra
- camel in Sinhala
- ඔටුවා oṭuwā
- camel in Assamese
- উট ut
- camel in Nepali
- ऊँट ū̃ṭ
- camel in Pashto
- اوښ ūẍ
- camel in Tagalog
- kamelyo
- camel in Arabic
- جَمَل jamal, نَاقَة nāqa, بَعِير baʕīr, إِبِل ʔibil
- camel in Malay
- unta
- camel in Indonesian
- unta
- camel in Persian
- شُتُر šutur, اُشْتُر oštor
- camel in Thai
- อูฐ ùut, โลโต loo-dtoo
- camel in Vietnamese
- lạc đà
- camel in Myanmar
- ကုလားအုတ် ku.la:ut, ကုလားအုပ် ku.la:up
- Sindhi
- اُٺُ uṭhu, ڏاچِي ḏācī
- Dhivehi
- ޖަމަލު jamalu, އޮށް oṣ̊
- Kashmiri
- ووٗنٛٹ vū̃ṭ, ووٗنٛٹِنؠ vūnṭin', वूँट vū̃ṭ
Examples of camel in a sentence
- 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, &...
- 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:
- 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.1961 April, H. Flint Ranney, "Whaling and Nantucket–The Decline: The Civil War, Petition to Congress, and the Camels", Historic Nantucket...
Synonyms of camel
Forms of camel
| plural | camels |
|---|---|
| plural | Camels |
Origin of camel
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.
Borrowed from Afrikaans kameel.
From a Cornish word meaning "crooked" - the crooked river.
Words formed from camel
- Queen Camel
- a camel is a horse designed by a committee
- a camel is a horse made by a committee
- anticamel
- Arabian camel
- Bactrian camel
- cama
- camelback
- camelbacked
- camel case
- camel clutch
- camel driver
- cameleer
- cameleopard
- camelestrian
- camel flu
- camelfucker
- camel-hair brush
- camelhair
- camel-hair
- camelier
- cameline
- camelish
- camelize
- camel jockey
- camel-jockey
- Camel League
- camellike
- camelman
- camel meat
- cameloid
- camelopard
- camelpox
- camel rider
- camelry
- camelshair
- camel's hair
- camel's nose
- camel spider
- camelthorn
- camel through the eye of a needle
- cameltoe
- camel toe
- dromedary camel
- it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God
- lower camel case
- milch camel
- milk camel
- Mount Camel
- one-camel town
- she-camel
- sleep camel
- the straw that broke the camel's back
- upper camel case
- whatever humps your camel
- young camel
Phrases with camel
Words that rhyme with camel
Questions about camel
- What does camel mean?
- Camel means a mammalian beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.
- What is camel in Hindi?
- Camel in Hindi is ऊँट (ū̃ṭ), उष्ट्र (uṣṭra), शुतुर (śutur). See Camel meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use camel in a sentence?
- Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.
- What part of speech is camel?
- Camel can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce camel?
- Camel is pronounced /ˈkæml̩/ (UK).
- What is the plural of camel?
- The plural of camel is camels.
Words near camel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: camel (page history and authors); Camel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-camel.ogg, En-au-camel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “camel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/camel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.