campus

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkæm.pəs/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin campus (“plain, field, flat land”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Italic *kampo- “field”, a word of uncertain origin.^[2] De Vaan compares Greek kampḗ “a bending, curve”, supposing the first sense was “depression”, and suggests a European substratum word from farming.^[2] It is a doublet of camp,^[3] and related to champion and champagne.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The grounds of a college or university: 1774 in Barnhart, the OED, Etymonline and MWU,^[3][6][2][4] first used at Princeton, New Jersey, in American English.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The word spread from Princeton to American colleges in general and later to British universities and other institutions, such as hospitals and businesses with grounds of their own.^[8][9] As an American colloquial verb, to confine a student to the campus as a punishment, it is from 1928.^[6] On campus and off campus describe where students live or study.^[9]

Timeline

• 1774 – college grounds, at Princeton.^[3][6]
• 1928 – verb, to confine to the campus.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The grounds and buildings of a university, college or school.
2. The grounds of another institution, such as a hospital or company.

Word family

• intercampus
• noncampus
• off-campus

Related words

• camp
• campi
• champerty
• champion
• champagne
• campaign

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins