Etymologically
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champagne

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃɑ̃.paɲ/[1]

Forms

champagne m (plural champagnes)[1]

Etymology

It is short for “vin de Champagne”, wine of Champagne, the province,[2][3][4][5][1] whose name is inherited from Late Latin campānia (“plain, open country”), used as a place name in Late Latin “Campania Remensis”, the plain of Reims (6th century).[2][6][1][7] “Campānia” is the neuter plural, used as a noun, of campāneus (“of the plain”), from campus (“field, plain”), the source of champ.[6][2][1] The common noun “champagne” “open country” is the doublet of campagne, which was borrowed from Italian.[6][1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mongin's Promenades de Paris (1695) asks Duquel, monsieur, du Champagne, du Bourgogne ?, “Which will you have, sir, champagne or burgundy?”[9][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The name champagne instead of vin de Champagne seems to coincide with the sparkling wine made by the second fermentation in the bottle associated with Dom Pérignon (1638–1715), which made the wine famous[2][9][5]; Regnard uses it in 1704–1709.[2][9][5] Champagniser (1839) is to make wine sparkle in this way.[2][4]

The wine gave its name to a pale golden colour (1905), and familiarly it is champ or champe (1857).[2][10] By extension the word is sometimes used of sparkling wines made elsewhere by the same method, a use that is illegal in France.[2][1]

Timeline

  • 6th century – Late Latin Campania Remensis.[2]
  • 1695 – Du Champagne (Mongin).[9][3]
  • 1704–1709 – Champagne in Regnard.[9][5]
  • 1798 – First recorded by the Académie.[9]
  • 1839 – Champagniser.[2][4]
  • 1857 – Champ, a slang clipping.[2][10]
  • 1905 – A pale golden colour.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Champagne, the sparkling white wine of Champagne: champagne brut, sabler le champagne.[10][1]
  2. (informal, outside Europe) Any sparkling wine.[1]

Adjective

  1. Of a pale golden colour.[11][2]

Word family

  • champagniser
  • Champagne
  • campagne
  • champ

Usage notes

A feminine champagne, from the same Latin word, is a rare or regional term for open, chalky country, as in la champagne berrichonne, and in heraldry the lowest third of the shield.[6][10][11] Fine champagne is a high-grade cognac from the champagne of the Cognac region.[6][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 152a
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d e f Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)