# champion
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English champioun, from Old French champion, from Medieval Latin campio (“combatant in a duel, champion”), from Frankish *kampijō (“fighter”), from Proto-West Germanic *kampijō (“combat soldier”), a derivative of Proto-West Germanic *kampijan (“to battle, to campaign”), itself a derivative of Proto-West Germanic *kamp (“battlefield, battle”), ultimately a borrowing in West-Germanic from Latin campus (“a field, a plain, a place of action”).

### Pronunciation

* (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈt͡ʃæmpiən/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* (General Australian) IPA: /ˈt͡ʃæmpjən/
* Rhymes: -æmpiən

### Noun

champion (plural champions)
* An ongoing winner in a game or contest.
    The defending champion is expected to defeat his challenger.
* Someone who is chosen to represent a group of people in a contest.
    Barcelona is eligible to play in FIFA Club World Cup as the champion of Europe.
* Someone who fights for a cause or status.
    Synonym: paladin
    Emmeline Pankhurst was a champion of women's suffrage.
** 2012, Sue Watling, Jim Rogers, Social Work in a Digital Society, page 34:Specific outcomes from this policy included the appointment of a Digital Champion to drive forward the efforts to get more of the excluded to be included.
* Someone who fights on another's behalf.
    champion of the poor
* (botany) A particularly notable member of a plant species, such as one of great size.
** 1938 November 5, Puritan Cordage Mills, “Take a Lesson from a Lily”, in Elmer C. Hole, editor, American Lumberman‎, volume 65, number 3138, Chicago, page 55:Pictured above is an actual photograph of a Regal Lily that famed all over the world. It's a champion plant—because in one season it produced a total of 89 blooms from one bulb, an amazing record among lilies.
** 2013, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1st edition, Milkweed Editions, →ISBN, →LCCN, pages 43–44:There was a news clipping there with a photo of a magnificent American elm, which had just been named the champion for its species, the largest of its kind.
** 2022 February 10, Christopher Doyle, “Stockton professor, students discover largest 'champion tree' in New Jersey”, in The Press of Alantic City‎, archived from the original on 2022-02-10:He [Matthew Olson] was searching for red maple trees to be tapped for syrup as part of the Stockton Maple Project when he came across the new champion tree.

#### Hyponyms

* championess

#### Derived terms

* champion data
* champion-elect
* championess
* champion-in-chief
* champion in chief
* championize
* championless
* championlike
* chumpion
* cochampion
* consensus national champion
* e-champion
* Fruit Ninja champion
* hidden champion
* nonchampion
* vice-champion
* world champion

#### Descendants

* → Danish: champion
* → German: Champion
* → Estonian: tšempion
* → Georgian: ჩემპიონი (čemṗioni)
* → Irish: seaimpín
* → Japanese: チャンピオン (chanpion)
* → Korean: 챔피언 (chaempieon)
* → Latvian: čempions
* → Lithuanian: čempionas
* → Polish: czempion
* → Russian: чемпио́н (čempión)
** → Armenian: չեմպիոն (čʻempion)
** → Azerbaijani: çempion
** → Crimean Tatar: çempion
** → Gagauz: çempion
** → Kazakh: чемпион (çempion)
** → Turkmen: çempion
** → Uzbek: chempion
** → Yakut: чемпион (cempion)
* → Swahili: championi
* → Ukrainian: чемпіон (čempion)
* → Yiddish: טשעמפּיאָן (tshempyon)

#### Translations
### Adjective

champion (not comparable)
* (attributive) Acting as a champion; having defeated all one's competitors.
* (attributive) Excellent; beyond compare.
* (predicative, Ireland, British, dialect) Excellent; brilliant; superb; deserving of high praise.
    "That rollercoaster was champion," laughed Vinny.

#### Related terms

* championship

#### Translations
### Verb

champion (third-person singular simple present champions, present participle championing, simple past and past participle championed)
* (transitive) To promote, advocate, or act as a champion for (a cause, etc.).
** 2024 April 3, Richard Foster, “Training the next generation of engineers”, in RAIL, number 1006, page 49:While obviously championing the Bluebell [Railway], Beardmore is keen for the 'big railway' to consider utilising what preserved railways can provide.
* (obsolete, transitive) To challenge.

#### Derived terms

* championer

#### Translations
### References

* John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “champion”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.
* “champion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “champion”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “champion”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French champion, from Medieval Latin or Late Latin campiōnem, campiōnem (“champion, fighter”), from Frankish *kampijō, from Proto-Germanic *kampijô, based on Latin campus (“level ground”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʃɑ̃.pjɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

champion m (plural champions, feminine championne)
* champion

#### Derived terms

* champion du monde
* championnat
* championner

#### Related terms

* champ

#### Descendants

* → Bulgarian: шампион (šampion)
* → Czech: šampión
* → Finnish: sampioni
* → Northern Kurdish: şampiyon
* → Luxembourgish: Champion
* → Macedonian: шампион (šampion)
* → Serbo-Croatian: шампион (šampion)
* → Slovak: šampión
* → Turkish: şampiyon

### Further reading

* “champion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Middle English
### Noun

champion
* Alternative form of champioun

## Old French
### Noun

champion
* Alternative form of champiun