Etymology Dictionary

CAMEO,  a precious stone, carved in relief.  (Ital.)   The word occurs in Darwin's Botanical Garden, P. 1 (Todd's Johnson).   [The F. spelling camaieu is sometimes found in Eng. books, and occurs in Bailey's Dict. vol. ii. ed. 1731.]—Ital. cammeo, a cameo.—Low Lat. cammæus, a cameo; also spelt camahutus, whence the F. camaieu.   B. Etym. unknown; see the discussion of it in Diez, s.v. cammeo; and in Mahn, Etymologische Untersuchungen, Berlin, 1863, p. 73.   Mahn suggests that cammæus is an adj. from camma, a Low Lat. version of a G. camme, which is a form due to G. pronunciation of O.F. game, a gem (Lat. gemma), for which Roquefort gives a quotation.   In the same way camahutus might be due to a German form of the same F. game and to F. haute, high.   But the Span. is camafeo.