campaign English · revision 3254

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1628|origins=la campus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kæmˈpeɪn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|campagne|t=campaign; open country]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[it|campagna|t=countryside; military operation]], or from Old North French or Old Provençal,^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-lat|campānia|t=level country, open country, battlefield]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|campus|t=plain, field]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster links Late Latin campānia to the name of Campania, the level country around Naples.^(MWU 2024) It is a doublet of [[champaign]] and closely related to French champagne, both the open country and the wine region.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A tract of open country: 1628,^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) a sense now obsolete; the Latin form campania was used in English in 1591 and 1598.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old armies spent the winter in quarters in towns and garrisons and took to the open field in summer to seek battle, so the word for the countryside came to mean the operations of an army in the field for one season,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Barnhart 1988) from 1647^(Barnhart 1988) or the 1640s.^(Etymonline) The sense was generalized to any sustained course of action for a purpose by 1770^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) or 1790,^(Etymonline) and in the United States to political activity before an election by 1809.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) A period of continuous operation of a furnace is from 1871.^(OED 1989) The verb, “to serve in a campaign”, is from 1701,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and its political sense from 1801.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1591 – the Latin form campania, open country.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1628 – open country.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1647 – a military campaign.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1701 – verb, to serve in a campaign.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1770 – any organized course of action.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1801 – verb, political sense.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1809 – an election campaign.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A series of [[military]] operations in a war with a particular aim.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # An organized series of actions to achieve a goal, such as winning an [[election]] or changing opinion.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Open country.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To take part in a campaign, especially for political office or a cause.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[campaigner]]

+ * [[countercampaign]]

+ * [[precampaign]]

+ * [[recampaign]]

+ * [[campaign button]]

+ * [[campaign hat]]

+ * [[smear campaign]]

+ * [[whispering campaign]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[camp]]

+ * [[campus]]

+ * [[champion]]

+ * [[champaign]]

+ * [[champagne]]

+ * [[scamper]]

+ * [[decamp]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Campaign'', ''crusade'', ''drive'' and ''push'' all denote a vigorous, concerted effort to achieve a purpose: ''a fund-raising campaign'', ''a drive to sell bonds''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}