- camouflage
- 1917, from Fr. camoufler, Parisian slang, "to disguise," from It. camuffare "to disguise," perhaps a contraction of capo muffare "to muffle the head." Probably altered by Fr. camouflet "puff of smoke," on the notion of "blow smoke in someone's face." The British navy in World War I called it dazzle-painting.
- smoke screen
- 1915, as a form of military camouflage, from smoke (n.1); 1926 in the fig. sense. The association of smoke with "deception, deliberate obscurity" dates back to at least 1565.
- khaki
- 1857, from Urdu khaki, lit. "dusty," from khak "dust," from Pers. First introduced in uniforms of British cavalry in India (the Guide Corps, 1846); widely adopted for camouflage purposes in the Boer Wars (1899-1902).