CAMEEZE, s. This word (ḳamīṣ) is used in colloquial H. and Tamil for 'a shirt.' It comes from the Port. camisa. But that word is directly from the Arab ḳamīṣ, 'a tunic.' Was St. Jerome's Latin word an earlier loan from the Arabic, or the source of the Arabic word? probably the latter; [so N.E.D. s.v. Camise]. The Mod. Greek Dict. of Sophocles has καμίσιον. Camesa is, according to the Slang Dictionary, used in the cant of English thieves; and in more ancient slang it was made into 'commission.'
c. 400.—"Solent militantes habere lineas quas Camisias vocant, sic aptas membris et adstrictas corporibus, ut expediti sint vel ad cursum, vel ad praelia ... quocumque necessitas traxerit."—Scti. Hieronymi Epist. (lxiv.) ad Fabiolam, § 11.
1404.—"And to the said Ruy Gonzalez he gave a big horse, an ambler, for they prize a horse that ambles, furnished with saddle and bridle, very well according to their fashion; and besides he gave him a camisa and an umbrella" (see [SOMBRERO]).—Clavijo, § lxxxix.; Markham, 100.
1464.—"to William and Richard my sons, all my fair camises...."—Will of Richard Strode, of Newnham, Devon.
1498.—"That a very fine camysa, which in Portugal would be worth 300 reis, was given here for 2 fanons, which in that country is the equivalent of 30 reis, though the value of 30 reis is in that country no small matter."—Roteiro de V. da Gama, 77.
1573.—"The richest of all (the shops in Fez) are where they sell camisas...."—Marmol. Desc. General de Affrica, Pt. I. Bk. iii. f. 87v.
CAMP, s. In the Madras Presidency [as well as in N. India] an official not at his headquarters is always addressed as 'in Camp.'
CAMPHOR, s. There are three camphors:—
a. The Bornean and Sumatran camphor from Dryobalanops aromatica.
b. The camphor of China and Japan, from Cinnamomum Camphora. (These are the two chief camphors of commerce; the first immensely exceeding the second in market value: see Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. xi. Note 3.)