champion
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈt͡ʃæmpiən/
ipa: /ˈt͡ʃæmpjən/
ipa: /ˈt͡ʃæmp.jɪn/
rhymes: -æmpiən
Forms: form: champions
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Italic *kampos
Latin campusbor.
Frankish *kamp
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Germanic *-janą
Frankish *-jan
Frankish *kampijan
Proto-Germanic *-jô
Frankish *-jō
Frankish *kampijōbor.
Medieval Latin campiō
Old French champiunbor.
Middle English champioun
English champion
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”). By surface analysis champ + -ion.
Senses: examples: text: The defending champion is expected to defeat his challenger.
text: Curry, a four-time NBA champion with the Warriors, played for the Wildcats for three seasons between 2006 and 2009, where he was twice named conference player of the year.
ref: 2025 March 11, Matias Grez, “Steph Curry accepts assistant general manager role at alma mater Davidson College”, in CNN:
glosses: An ongoing winner in a game or contest.
examples: text: Barcelona is eligible to play in FIFA Club World Cup as the champion of Europe.
glosses: Someone who is chosen to represent a group of people in a contest.
examples: text: Emmeline Pankhurst was a champion of women's suffrage.
text: 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.
ref: 2012, Sue Watling, Jim Rogers, Social Work in a Digital Society, page 34:
synonyms: paladin
glosses: Someone who fights for a cause or status.
examples: text: champion of the poor
glosses: Someone who fights on another's behalf.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 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:
text: 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.
ref: 2013, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1st edition, Milkweed Editions, →ISBN, →LCCN, pages 43–44:
text: 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.
ref: 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 10 Feb 2022:
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: A particularly notable member of a plant species, such as one of great size.
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