Champ

How to spell champ

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce champ

What does champ mean?

1. nounA champion; the winner of a contest or the best in a particular field.
2. verbTo chew or bite on something noisily and impatiently.

Champ in a sentence

• noun

  The boxing champ defended his title for the third year running.

• verb

  The eager horse began to champ at its bit before the race.

• noun

  After the final round she was crowned the undisputed champ.

• verb

  The candidates champ at the bit, waiting for the results to be announced.

Where does champ come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The noun 'champ' is simply a clipped, informal form of 'champion', a word English borrowed from Old French champion in the 1200s. That French word traces back to the Late Latin campio, meaning 'a fighter in the arena', which itself grew from the Latin campus, meaning an open field or plain, and by extension the field where battles or contests were fought. So a champion was originally someone who fought on that field on another's behalf, and the same campus root sits inside 'camp' and 'campaign'. The shortened form 'champ' appeared in the 1800s as breezy, affectionate slang for a winner. The unrelated verb 'champ', meaning to bite or chew noisily, is a separate word of uncertain origin from the 1500s, probably imitating the sound of vigorous chewing, and it survives mainly in the phrase about an eager horse champing at its bit.

How the word is built

• champ (short for 'champion', from Latin campus 'field of battle')