cameo: [15] The immediate source of modern English cameo was Italian cameo or cammeo. No one is too sure where it ultimately came from, but it has always been assumed that it had some sort of Oriental source – perhaps Arabic qamaā’īl ‘flower buds’. The original form of the word in English was cameu, which came from Old French camahieu; the Italianate cameo does not appear until the late 17th century.
cameo (n.)
early 15c., kaadmaheu, camew, chamehieux and many other spellings (from early 13c. in Anglo-Latin), "carved precious stone with two layers of colors," from Old French camaieu and directly from Medieval Latin cammaeus, which is of unknown origin, perhaps ultimately from Arabic qamaa'il "flower buds," or Persian chumahan "agate." Transferred sense of "small character or part that stands out from other minor parts" in a play, etc., is from 1928, from earlier meaning "short literary sketch or portrait" (1851), a transferred sense from cameo silhouettes.
例文
1. That little girl is wearing a cameo brooch.
あの女の子はレリーフ宝石ブローチをつけている。
2.He played a cameo role，that of a young Aids patient in hospital.
彼は入院している若いエイズ患者という非常に彩を放つ小さな役を演じている。
3.RenownedChinese director，Chen Kaige has a cameo role in which western movie？
有名な陳凱歌監督はどの洋画で小兵をゲスト出演したことがありますか。
4.A Schwarzenegger advisor ruled out anything but a cameo role.