† cameryn.

Etymology: Origin unknown. Perhaps compare Anglo-Norman camerus (adjective) suffering from ‘camery’ or ‘frounce’ (13th cent. in an isolated attestation in cheval camerus , glossing post-classical Latin equus hortecaducus (13th cent. in the same British source)) and post-classical Latin camoria (probably) glanders (a1124 in an isolated attestation in a British source). Compare also the nouns and adjectives in other Romance languages, cited below, which may show parallels. It is possible that the English word may show a loan < one of the Romance words, perhaps with suffix substitution (compare -y suffix³); however, this poses both formal and semantic problems. The exact meaning of both frounce n.² 2 and camery is uncertain, and the semantic relationship between the two senses of frounce n.² is equally unclear. It is possible that both diseases were characterized by the presence of mucus in the nasal and oral passages of horses, which would support an interpretation of camery as ‘glanders’, but even if so, the English word is attested much later than the French and post-classical Latin words, and difficult to derive from the nouns in other Romance languages on phonological grounds.Compare Old French chamoire , denoting a disease of horses (c1201 in an isolated attestation; French regional (Eastern) camoudje , chairmouge , etc., all in sense ‘glanders’), Old French (Picardy) camore , chamorge (adjective) suffering from glanders or (occasionally, with reference to people) catarrh (c1220; also chamorgne (c1270)), Catalan †cimorra (15th cent.), Spanish †cimorra (1604), Portuguese †chimorrea (a1318), Italian cimurro (14th cent.), all in sense ‘glanders’. The ulterior etymology of all these Romance words, and of the post-classical Latin noun, is uncertain, as is their transmission. It has been suggested that they may reflect an unattested Greek form *χειμόρροια , lit. ‘cold flux’ ( < Hellenistic Greek χειμο- , combining form (in e.g. χειμοϕυγείν to avoid the winter or wintry weather) of ancient Greek χεῖμα winter weather, cold, frost (see isocheim n.) + -ρροια -rrhoea comb. form). See further J. Corominas Dicionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (1981) at camorra and Französisches etymol. Wörterbuch at *camoria.