Etymologically
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campania

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Forms

campānia f (genitive campāniae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin campāneus (“of the fields, of the plain”), the adjective used as a noun,[1][2][3] from campus (“plain, field”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The neuter plural campānia “the fields, the plain” is found in the land surveyors, and the feminine singular in Gregory of Tours,[5][2][4] who speaks of the campania of Reims.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The TLL calls it a word of the latest Latinity.[3] The Itinerarium Antonini Placentini uses it of an open plain with olive and palm groves, and the glossaries translate it with Greek πεδιάς (pediás, “plain”).[3][6] In Medieval Latin it meant farmland, the open country around a town, a plain, and also a military expedition.[7][4] British sources use it for open country, such as land lying in the open fields as against the curtilage.[8]

It survives as Italian campagna, French campagne and Spanish campaña.[3][4] English campaign comes from French campagne “open country”, from the season armies spent in the field, and the province of Champagne, the source of champagne, is named after the same “open country”.[9]

Timeline

  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses it of the plain around Reims.[2][4]
  • c. 1120 – A charter of Ramsey Abbey uses it of open fields.[8]
  • 1640s – English campaign is borrowed from French, ultimately from this word.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) Level country, a plain;[2][5][1] (neuter plural) the fields.[2][5][1]
  2. (Late Latin) The countryside around a town.[1][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Farmland, arable land; open country.[7][8][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A military campaign.[7]

Usage notes

It is distinct from the proper name Campānia, the region around Capua, though both come from campus.[10][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press