Dictionary

cameo en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkæm.i.oʊ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈkæm.iː.əʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cammeo, from Medieval Latin camaeus, of unknown origin. The movie sense is short for “cameo role” referring to a famous person who was playing no character, but him or herself. Like a cameo brooch — a low-relief carving of a person’s head or bust — the actor or celebrity is instantly recognizable. More recently, it has come to refer to any short appearances, whether as a character or as oneself. Doublet of camaieu.

Meanings

1. A piece of jewelry, etc., carved in relief.
   • SIMONE: And he tracked down Mom's cameo—the one Dad pawned? He outbid fourteen other buyers on eBay. 2014, Molly Smith Metzler, Elemeno Pea, →ISBN, page 66:
   • Aarfy's buxom trollop had vanished with her smutty cameo ring, and Nurse Duckett was ashamed of him because he had refused to fly more combat missions and would cause a scandal. 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Eternal City”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 433:
2. A single very brief appearance, especially by a prominent celebrity in a movie or song.
   • As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note. 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
   • Southgate will have been delighted to give Foden the first of many England caps while Greenwood will also have enjoyed his taste of international action during his cameo after coming on as a substitute for Kane. 2020 September 5, Phil McNulty, “Iceland 0-1 England”, in BBC Sport:
   • Famous comic book writer Stan Lee had a cameo in the Spider-Man movie. He was on screen for perhaps ten seconds, but aficionados distinctly remember him.
   • Dr. Helen O’Connell, Australia’s first female urologist, recalled that in her own medical training, the clitoris barely made a cameo. 2022 October 17, Rachel E. Gross, “Half the World Has a Clitoris. Why Don’t Doctors Study It?”, in The New York Times:

Forms

Deriveds

cameo conch · cameo lighting · cameo ware

Translations (40)

ja カメオ出演 (brief appearance) · de Cameo-Auftritt (brief appearance) · ca camafeu (relief work) · it cammeo (brief appearance) · cs epizodní výstup (brief appearance) · et kamee (relief work) · ro camee (relief work) · hu kámeaszerep (brief appearance) · fi cameorooli (brief appearance) · cmn 客串出演 (brief appearance) · cs epizodní role (brief appearance) · da kamé (relief work) · cmn 带浮雕的珠宝 (relief work) · fr caméo (brief appearance) · fr camaïeu (relief work) · fi kamee (relief work) · pt camafeu (relief work) · pl kamea (relief work) · he הופעת קמע (brief appearance) · tr işlemeli akik (relief work) · sv kamé (relief work) · fi kameekoru (relief work) · cs štěk (brief appearance) · ru камея (relief work) · es camafeo (relief work) · de Camée (relief work) · it cammeo (relief work) · eu kameu (relief work) · ru камео (brief appearance) · nl camee (relief work) · de Kurzauftritt (brief appearance) · de Kamee (relief work) · gmh camaziel (relief work) · cs medailónek (relief work) · eo kameo (brief appearance) · cs kamej (relief work) · cs medailón (relief work) · pl cameo (brief appearance) · es cameo (brief appearance) · hu kámea (relief work)

cameo en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈkæm.i.oʊ/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• (US) audio
• /ˈkæm.iː.əʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian cammeo, from Medieval Latin camaeus, of unknown origin. The movie sense is short for “cameo role” referring to a famous person who was playing no character, but him or herself. Like a cameo brooch — a low-relief carving of a person’s head or bust — the actor or celebrity is instantly recognizable. More recently, it has come to refer to any short appearances, whether as a character or as oneself. Doublet of camaieu.

Meanings

1. To appear in a cameo role.

Forms