camp English · revision 2878

+ English has two words spelled ''camp'': a place with tents or temporary shelters, from Latin campus “field”, and “affected, exaggerated”, of unknown origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kæmp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|encampment}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1528|origins=la campus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|camp]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|it|campo]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|campus|t=open field, level ground; a field of battle]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) especially the Campus Martius in Rome, used for games and military drill.^(NODE 1998) The direct French descendant of campus is champ “field”.^(Etymonline) Latin campus was borrowed early into West Germanic as *kampaz, which gave Old English camp “contest, battle, war”, obsolete by the mid-15th century, and German Kampf.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The verb is from Middle French camper.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is a doublet of [[campus]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The place where an army lodges temporarily: 1528.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A body of troops encamped is from before 1584,^(OED 1989) and temporary quarters in general, as of travellers, from 1560.^(OED 1989) Non-military senses developed by the 1550s.^(Etymonline) The verb, “to encamp”, is from 1543,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and “to live in tents or rough shelters” from the 1610s, in modern times often for pleasure;^(Etymonline) ''camping out'' is American English from 1834.^(Etymonline) ''Campfire'' is from 1675.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Camp meeting'', an outdoor religious meeting, is American English from 1809, first of Methodists.^(Etymonline) ''Camp follower'' is from 1810.^(Etymonline) A body of supporters of a doctrine or cause is from 1871.^(Etymonline) A summer camp for children and a prison or concentration camp are later senses.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1528 – an army's encampment.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1543 – verb, to encamp.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1560 – temporary quarters.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610s – to live in tents.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1675 – ''campfire''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1809 – ''camp meeting''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1834 – ''camping out''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1871 – a group of supporters.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A place where tents or other temporary shelters are put up, as by soldiers or travellers.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A place in the country with simple accommodation and organized activities, as for children.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A group of people who hold the same opinion: ''the rival camps''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A place where people are held, such as a [[prison]] or refugee camp.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To set up a camp; to live in a tent for a time.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To stay somewhere for a long time: ''they camped outside the shop''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[camper]]

+ * [[camping]]

+ * [[campsite]]

+ * [[campground]]

+ * [[campfire]]

+ * [[encamp]]

+ * [[encampment]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|affected}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=coinage|attested=1909|origins=en camp}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of unknown origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) Etymonline suggests a link with mid-17th-century French camper “to portray, pose”, as in se camper “to take a bold, provocative pose”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Actions or gestures of exaggerated emphasis, at first in homosexual slang: 1909.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a noun it meant a homosexual from 1931, and ''camp it up'' is also from 1931.^(Barnhart 1988) Susan Sontag's essay “Notes on 'Camp'” (1964) popularized the sense “amusing for its exaggerated, outmoded or banal style”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Campy'' is from 1959.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1909 – exaggerated, affected.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1931 – noun, and ''camp it up''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1959 – ''campy''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1964 – Sontag's essay.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Deliberately exaggerated and theatrical, especially for comic effect.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # Affected and effeminate in manner.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Exaggerated or deliberately outmoded style, enjoyed for its absurdity.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''camp it up'': to behave in a camp way.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[campy]]

+ * [[high camp]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[campus]]

+ * [[champerty]]

+ * [[champion]]

+ * [[campaign]]

+ * [[champagne]]

+ * [[scamper]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In northern English dialect ''camp'' also meant “to chat, gossip”, and in East Anglia ''camp'' or ''camp-ball'' was an old form of football.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}