champagne

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃæmˈpeɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French champagne, short for vin de Champagne (“wine of Champagne”),^[2][3][4] from the name of the former province of Champagne in north-eastern France, where it was first made,^[2][3][4] from Late Latin campānia (“level country”) (see campaign and champaign).^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wine from Champagne: 1664 in Barnhart, the OED and Merriam-Webster, the 1660s in Etymonline.^[2][5][4][3]

Semantic evolution

At first it meant any wine of the region, then narrowed to its sparkling wines, whose fizz is artificially produced, and by the late 18th century widened to sparkling wines made anywhere.^[3] Figuratively, something exhilarating, it is from 1891,^[5] and a pale straw colour from 1881.^[5] A nonce verb, to drink champagne, is from 1814.^[5] Collins records champagne before a noun for a luxurious lifestyle, as a champagne socialist.^[6]

Timeline

• 1664 – champagne.^[2][5]
• late 18th century – any sparkling wine.^[3]
• 1881 – a champagne colour.^[5]
• 1891 – something exhilarating.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A sparkling white wine made in the Champagne region of France.
2. Loosely, any sparkling white wine.
3. A pale orange-yellow or greyish-yellow colour.

Adjective

1. Denoting a luxurious way of life.

Word family

• fine champagne

Related words

• campaign
• champaign
• camp
• campus

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 e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins