Etymologically
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champ

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Champ, to chew noisily, is probably imitative; champ, a champion, is a clipping.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tʃæmp/[4]

champ1 chew

Etymology

To chew noisily is probably imitative.[1][2][5][3][6] The OED, as quoted by Etymonline, suggests a connection with jam.[2] Earlier forms were cham and chamb (late 14th century).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To chew noisily, crunch: 1530, in Palsgrave, in Barnhart; the 1520s in Etymonline.[1][2] Merriam-Webster gives the 14th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

Of horses, to bite repeatedly and impatiently, it is from the 1570s, and the figurative to champ at the bit by the 1640s.[2] The noun, the act of champing, is from 1604.[1][7][2] In dialect a champ was anything chewed or trampled into a pulp,[7] and in Ulster a dish of mashed potatoes with spring onions.[6]

Timeline

  • late 14th century – cham, chamb.[2]
  • 1530 – to champ.[1]
  • 1570s – of horses.[2]
  • 1604 – a champ (noun).[1][7]
  • 1640s – to champ at the bit.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To chew noisily, as a horse does.
  2. To bite or gnaw impatiently.
  3. champ at the bit: to be impatient to start.

Noun

  1. The act or sound of champing.
  2. (Ulster) A dish of mashed potatoes with spring onions or leeks.

champ2 champion

Etymology

The champion is a clipping of champion, in American English.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A champion: 1868.[1][2][3]

Timeline

  • 1868 – champ, champion (US).[1][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal) A champion.

Usage notes

An obsolete champ, a field, also the field of a shield in heraldry (about 1300), is from Old French champ, from Latin campus.[2][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press