Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CHA-ME'LE-ON, n. [L. chamæleon; Gr. χαμαιλεων.]

An animal of the genus Lacerta, or lizard, with a naked body, a tail and four feet. The body is six or seven inches long, and the tail five inches; with this it clings to the branches of trees. The skin is cold to the touch, and contains small grains or eminences, of a bluish gray color, in the shade, but in the light of the sun, all parts of the body become of a grayish brown or tawny color. It is a native of Africa and Asia. – Encyc.