champion

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun someone who has won first place in a competition
  2. noun someone who fights for a cause
  3. noun a person who backs a politician or a team etc.

Etymology

From Middle English champioun, from Old French champion, from Medieval Latin campio (“combatant in a duel, champion”), from Frankish *kampijō (“fighter”), from Proto-West Germanic *kampijō (“combat soldier”), a derivative of *kampijan (“to battle, to campaign”), itself a derivative of *kamp (“battlefield, battle”), ultimately a borrowing in West-Germanic from Latin campus (“a field, a plain, a place of action”). Cognate with Old English cæmpa, cempa (“soldier, warrior, champion”), Old High German kempfeo, kempfo (“fighter, warrior, champion”), whence archaic German Kempfe (“fighter”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

champ, title-holder

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