cambric 
cambraja, formerly cambrai (Florio), < F. cam- 
hray, toile tie Cambray, cambric (Cotgrave) : so 
called from D. Kamerijk, Flem. Kameryk, ML. 
Cameracum, F. Cambrai, Cambrai/, a town in the 
department of Nord, France.] 1. A thin, fine 
linen, said to have been first manufactured at 
Cambrai in France, introduced in the sixteenth 
century for the fine ruffs worn at that period, 
as well as for bands, kerchiefs, etc. ; in modern 
times, the finest linen made. See batiste. An 
imitation of cambric is made of fine cotton yarn, hard- 
twisted. Muslin is a name often applied to a kind of 
linen cambric manufactured in Great Britain from flax. 
I would your cambric were as sensible as your finger, 
that you might leave pricking it for pity. 
Shak., Cor., i. 3. 
2. Same as cambric-muslin, 2. 
cambric-grass (kam'brik-gras), n. The silk- 
grass or ramie-plant of China, JiceJimeria nivea. 
See cut under Bcelimeria. 
cambric-muslin (kam'brik-muz' ( 'lin), n. 1. 
Fine cotton cloth made in imitation of linen 
cambric. 2. A somewhat coarser cotton cloth, 
finished with a glaze, much used for linings. 
cambril (kam'bril), . Same as gambrel. 
Cambro-Briton (kam'bro-brit'on), . A Welsh- 
man. 
Cambro-Silurian (kam'bro-si-lu'ri-an), a. [< 
Cambr(ian) + Silurian .] In geol., a term for- 
merly used by some English geologists as in a 
greater or less degree equivalent to Lower Si- 
lurian. 
cambuca (kam-bu'ka), u. [ML., also cambutta : 
see cambuck^, cammock 2 .] 1. The curved club 
used in the game of golf or pall-mall. See cam- 
mock 2 . 2. A pastoral staff: commonly used 
for its earlier and more simple shape, in which 
the crook at the top does not curve inward 
spirally, but forms approximately a half-circle. 
Also cambutta. 
cambuck 1 (kam'buk), n. [E. dial., also spelled 
kambuck (Prior), var. of cammockl, q. v.] Same 
as cammockl. [Prov. Eng.] 
cambuck 2 fkam'buk), n. [E. dial., var. of 
oaamodfl, \ ME. cambok : see cammock 2 . Ct. 
cambuca.] 1. Same as camnwck^. Stow, Sur- 
vey (ed. 1720), i. 251. (Halliwell. ) 2. The dry 
stalks of dead plants, as of hemlock. Halli- 
well. [Prov. Eng.] 
cambutta (kam-but'a), n. [ML.] Same as 
cambuca. 
cam-cutter (kam'kut'er), n. A machine-tool 
specially adapted for cutting and finishing cams 
of small sizes and of all curves. 
came 1 (kam). Preterit of come. 
came 2 (kam), n. [Sc., also kame, kaim; var. of 
com 1 , comW-, q. v.] 1. A comb. 2. A ridge. 
[Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
came 3 (kam), . [Prob. a particular use of 
came 2 = cam 1 = comb 1 .'] If. The batch or 
amount of lead necessary to make sash-bars 
for 100 square feet of glazing ; also, this amount 
cast into small rods or bars 12 or 14 inches long, 
and ready for drawing. Hence 2. The pre- 
pared sash-bar itself, having a section like an 
I, more or less rounded at each end, and called 
in technical language glaziers' turned lead or 
window-lead. 
camel (kam'el), n. [Early mod. E. also cam- 
mel; < ME. camel, kamel, also chamel, < OF. 
camel, chamel, F. chameau = Pr. camel = Sp. 
camello = Pg. camelo = It. cammello = ONorth. 
camel, carnal (see AS. word below) = D. kameel 
= G. kamel = Dan. kamel = Sw. kamel = Icel. 
kamell (rare) = OBulg. Bulg. Serv. kamila = 
Hung, gamila, < L. camelus, < Gr. Kapr/Aof, m. 
and f. (NGr. na/intof, m., KU^M, f.), < Heb. ga- 
770 
called by a name derived from that of the ele- 
phant: Goth, ulbandus = OHG. olbentd, MHG. 
olbcnte = AS. olfend = OS. olbJtunt = Icel. ut- 
faldi, a camel.] 1 . A large ruminant quadru- 
ped of the family Camclida;, genus Camelus, 
used in Asia and Africa as a beast of burden. 
There are two distinct species of camels : (1) The Arabian 
camel, C. dromedarius, with one hump, and four callosities 
on the fore legs and two on the hind legs. It is a native 
of Arabia, and is now known only in the domesticated 
state ; it is used chiefly in Arabia and Egypt. There are 
several breeds or artificial varieties. The dromedary is one 
of these, being simply a " blooded " or thoroughbred camel 
of great speed and bottom, used as a saddle-animal, and 
comparing with the heavier and slower varieties as a 
race-horse does with a cart-horse ; it is not a different 
animal zoologically speaking. (2) The Bactrian camel, C. 
Ixvti'ianus, with two humps, of which there are also dif- 
Arabian Camel, or Dromedary (Camelus dromedaritts). 
mdl = Ai.jamal, jemel = Coptic gamul, a camel. 
In the older Teut. languages the camel was 
Bactrian Camel ( Camelus bactriattus). 
ferent breeds. The name camel is sometimes applied to 
the species of the American genus Auchenia, as the llama, 
alpaca, and vicuna, collectively known as the camels of 
the new world. The Arabian camel is poetically called 
the ship of the desert. Camels constitute the riches of 
an Arabian ; without them he could not subsist, carry on 
trade, or travel over sandy deserts. Their milk and flesh 
are used for food and their hides for leather, and their 
hair is a valuable article of trade and manufacture. By 
the camel's power of sustaining abstinence from drink for 
many days, due to the reserve it can carry in its peculiarly 
constructed cellular stomach, and of subsisting on a few 
coarse, dry, prickly plants, it is especially fitted for the 
parched and barren lands of Asia and Africa. Camels carry 
from 600 to 1,000 pounds burden. 
2. A water-tight structure placed beneath a 
ship or vessel to raise it in the water, in order 
to assist its passage over a shoal or bar, or 
to enable it to be navigated in shallow water. 
It is first filled with water and sunk alongside the vessel, 
to which it is then secured. As the water is pumped out, 
the camel gradually rises, lifting the vessel with it. Camels 
have also been used for raising sunken vessels. Camel's 
hair, the hair of the camel, from which very fine fabrics, 
especially shawls, are made in the East, and also carpets, 
tent-cloths, etc. InEuropeitisusedchieflyformixingwith 
silk. The best comes from Persia. The so-called camel's- 
hair pencils or brushes used in painting are not made of 
camel's hair, but commonly of hair from the tails of Rus- 
sian and Siberian squirrels. See bnuth. Camel's-hair 
Cloth. () An Oriental fabric. See pvtto. (It) A French 
imitation of this fabric ; a warm and light woolen cloth 
with a gloss, but having long hairs standing up upon it. 
Diet, of Needlework. Camel'S-halr Shawl, a name often 
given in the United States to the cashmere shawl. Cam- 
el's hay. Same as camel-grass. Camel's wool, mohair. 
camelaucium (kam-e-la'si-um), n. ; pi. camelaii- 
cia (-a). [ML. camelacium, camelaucium, more 
frequently camelaucum, calamaucum, etc., < 
LGr. Ka.fj.e'XavKiov ; origin uncertain ; usually re- 
ferred to Gr. Ka/u//.oc, camel : see camel, and cf. 
calamanco. ] A low-crowned cap formerly worn, 
chiefly in the East, by royal persons and eccle- 
siastics, especially bishops and monks. 
camel-backed (kam'el-bakt), a. Having a 
back like that of a camel ; humpbacked. 
Not that he was crook-shouldered or camel-backed. 
Fuller, Holy War, p. 215. 
camel-bird (kam'el-berd), n. A book-name of 
the African ostrich, Struthio camelus. See cam- 
elornWies. 
camelcade (kam-el-kad'), . [Irreg. < camel + 
-cade, as in cavalcade.] A body of troops 
mounted on camels. [Humorous.] 
camel-cricket (kam'ei-krik' i 'et), n. Same as 
fdincl-insect. 
cameleer (kam-e-ler'), n. [< camel + -eer. Cf. 
equiv. F. clianwlier.] A camel-driver. 
A number of Arab cameleers, who had come with trav- 
ellers across the Desert from Egypt, were encamped near 
us. B. Taylor, Lands of the Saracen, p. 51. 
cameleont (ka-me'le-pn), . An older English 
spelling of cltameleon. 
camel-grass (kam'el-gras), n. A fragrant grass 
of the warmer regions of Asia, including several 
species of Andropogon. Also called earners IKII/. 
camelid (kam'el-id), n. A ruminant mammal 
of the family Camclidce. 
Camelidse (ka-mel'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Came- 
lii n + -irlrt?.] A family of ruminant artiodac- 
tyl tylopod mammals. They have incisor teeth in 
Camellia 
both jaws, specialized canines in the lower jaw, a diffuse 
placenta, impej-fecUyquadriiiurtite stoimu-h, the upper lip 
cleft, the hind limbs largely free from the common integu- 
ment, so that the lower part of the thigh and the knee 
project from the belly, broad elastic feet, and no horns. 
The family includes two living genera, Camelus or true 
camels of the old world, and Auchenia or llamas of the 
new, with many fossil ones, chiefly American. See cuts 
under camel and llama. 
camelina 1 (kam-e-H'na), n. [NL., fern, of L. 
camelinus ; with ref. to ML. camelinum, camel- 
ine : see cameline 2 .] A woolen material with 
small basket-pattern and loose upstanding 
hairs. Diet, of Needlework. 
Camelina 2 (kam-e-li'nii), n. pi. [NL., < Camelux 
+ -ina 2 .] Same as Cameliate or Cameloidea. 
camelina 3 (ka-mel'i-na), n. [NL., said to be 
formed (if so, prop. *Chama'lina) < Gr. x a l* ai > 
on the ground (dwarf), + Zivav, flax. Hence 
camelinfS.] If. Treacle-mustard; wormseed. 
Kersey, 1708. 2. [cop.] A genus of plants, 
natural order Crucifera;. The most common and 
probably the only species, C. nativa, gold-of-pleasure or 
false flax, is a native of southern Europe and western Asia, 
but is widely naturalized as a weed. It is an annual, 
with obovoid pods and yellow flowers, and has been cul- 
tivated for the fiber of its stems and the oil expressed 
from its seeds. 
cameline 1 (kam'e-lin), a. [< L. camelinus, per- 
taining to a camel, < camelus, a camel: see 
camel. Cf. cameline 2 .] Pertaining to or re- 
sembling camels or the Camelidai; cameloid. 
cameline 2 !, n. [ME., < OF. cameline, camelin = 
Pr. camelin = It. cammellino, < ML. camelinum, 
also camelinus, a stuff made of camel's hair, < 
L. camelinus, pertaining to a camel, < camelus, a 
camel: see camel. Cf. camlet.'] A stuff used 
in the middle ages as a material for dress, it 
is commonly said to have been made of camel's hair, and 
imported from the East ; but as it is repeatedly mentioned 
as a common and cheap stuff, it is probable that it was 
an imitation of the Eastern fabric. It was made as early 
as the thirteenth century in Flanders and Brabant, of 
many colors. 
And dame Abstinence-streyned 
Toke on a robe of kamelyne. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 7367. 
cameline 3 (kam'e-lin), n. and a. [< F. cameline 
= Sp. Pg. camelina, < NL. camelina : see came- 
lina^.] I.f n. Treacle-mustard; wormseed. 
Cameline [F.], the herb cameline, or treacle mustard. 
Cotgravf. 
II. a. Pertaining to or derived from plants 
of the genus Camelina : as, cameline oil. 
camel-insect (kam'el-in /! 'sekt), n. An orthop- 
terous insect of the genus Mantis, or praying- 
insects : so called from the resemblance of the 
long thorax to the elongated neck of the camel. 
In the United States these insects are known as 
rear-liorses. Also called camel-cricket and cam- 
el-locust. 
cameliont, . An old spelling of chameleon. 
camellert, . A camel-driver. 
Our companions had their cradles struck down through 
the negligence of the Camellers. 
Sandys, Travels (ed. 1652), p. 107. 
Camellia (ka-mel'ia), n. [NL., after George 
Joseph Kamel, a Moravian Jesuit and traveler of 
the seventeenth century, by whom the Camellia 
Japonica was first described.] 1. A genus con- 
taining about a dozen species of shrubs or small 
trees, belonging to the natural order Ternstrce- 
miacew, natives of tropical and eastern Asia 
and the Indian archipelago. They all have thick, 
shining, evergreen leaves and white or rose-colored flowers. 
The genus is divided into two sections, one with pendu- 
lous flowers and persistent sepals, represented by the tea- 
plant, C. theijera (see tea), the other with erect flowers 
and deciduous sepals, of which the common cultivated 
camellia, C. Japonica, is a conspicuous example. Of this 
species, with beautiful but odorless flowers and elegant 
