Other forms: camouflaged, camouflaging
Camouflage is the colours and patterns that make a creature or object disappear into its background. Natural camouflage, camouflage netting, camouflage clothing.
In nature it works by matching the background, breaking up an outline, or both — the stripes of a tiger do the second rather than the first. In warfare it became a discipline in the First World War, and dazzle camouflage on ships was designed to confuse rather than conceal. As a verb it means to hide by disguising: camouflage the entrance. Note camo, the informal shortening.
1nouncamouflageColours and patterns that hide something in its background.
“The camouflage is so good that the bird is invisible at four feet.”
2verbdisguisingTo hide something by disguising it.
“The whole building was camouflaged with netting.”
camouflage is a means of concealment.
Italian camuffare meant to muffle the head, and French camoufler meant to disguise. The word entered English in 1917 straight from the French army, which is why it is one of very few military terms English took from French in the twentieth century.
Proto-Indo-European
*kap-
Italian
camuffare — to muffle the head
French
camouflage
English, today
camouflage
Built from
From camouflage. French camouflage, from camoufler (“to veil, disguise”), alteration (due to camouflet (“smoke blown in one's face”)) of Italian camuffare (“to muffle the head”), from ca- (from Italian capo (“head”)) + muffare (“to muffle”), from Medieval Latin muffula (“muff”). This Medieval Latin, from which there is also English muffle, is either derived from a Frankish molfell (“soft garment made of hide”) from mol (“softened, forworn”) (akin to Old High German molawēn (“to soften”), Middle High German molwic (“soft”)) + fell (“hide, skin”), from Proto-Germanic fellą (“skin, film, fleece”), or, an alternate etymology traces it to a Frankish muffël (“a muff, wrap, envelope”) composed of mauwu (“sleeve, wrap”) from Proto-Germanic mawwō (“sleeve”) + fell (“skin, hide”) from Proto-Germanic fellą (“skin, film, fleece”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Nature & Weather, Insects & Sea Life, Military & Defence