campion

Forms

campion m (plural campioni, feminine equivalent campioană)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian campione, first a fighter in single combat for a cause, in a judicial duel.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Italian word comes from campiō, from Germanic *kampjo, formed on a Germanic word for “battlefield” that was taken from campus (“field”).^[2] Wiktionary names Frankish *kampijō (or a Lombardic equivalent) as the source of the Late Latin word.^[1] Nocentini calls the Italian word a Germanic loan of Romance origin.^[6]

The variant șampion is borrowed from French champion, of the same origin;^[2][7][8] Scriban and NODEX also name French beside Italian.^[2][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is of 1844, in the sense “defender, protector”.^[2] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 explains it as a warrior chosen from each of two hostile armies to fight in their place.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word meant a fighter in a single combat or tournament and, figuratively, a defender of a cause: Costinescu (1870) adds “one who writes or speaks for a party”.^[10][11] The sports sense, the winner of a competition, is in the DA of 1913, with the derivative campionat “championship”, which DELR traces to Italian campionato.^[5][4][2] The figurative “champion of a cause” remains in use.^[3]

A recent extension in Romanian is “holder of a negative record”: a city “champion of road accidents”.^[12] The feminine is campioană (1978), and vicecampion (1972) follows French vice-champion.^[2]

Timeline

• 1844 – the first record, “defender, protector”.^[2]
• 1848 – in Negulici's dictionary, “champion in single combat”.^[9]
• 1913 – the sports sense and campionat in the DA.^[5][2]
• 1972 – vicecampion.^[2]
• 1978 – the feminine campioană.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A fighter in single combat or in a tournament.^[11][4]
2. A person or team that wins first place in a competition: champion: campion mondial “world champion”.^[3][1]
3. (figurative) A leading defender of a cause or idea.^[3][4]

Word family

• campionat
• ex-campion
• supercampion
• vicecampion

Related words

• campanie
• câmp

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. campion
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 137
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 283
5. ^ a b c Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. campion
6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. campione
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 222
8. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. campion
9. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. campion
10. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 147
11. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. campion
12. ^ Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. campion