• champion •
Printable Version Pronunciation: chæmp-i-yên • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. Someone who has won or currently holds first place in a competition. 2. Someone who fights for a cause, a supporter. 3. Someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field.
Notes: Though overused by a world addicted to superlatives, this word still retains the power of its original meaning. As Sunday is the final of the World Cup, we thought today's word would add some luster to the title when either Italy or France hoists the cup as world champions.
In Play: When we crown the best teams in sports, we usually designate them champions. It is occasionally used pejoratively, though, as "Constance Noring is the champion slacker in our office." There is also a new television series that accurately reflects the third meaning of this word, as it brings together people with dazzling, though perhaps never-heard-of-before, skills. If you want to see a man play the banjo while his feet are wrapped around his neck, "Master of Champions" is for you. How's that for a super-duper-superlative?
Word History: Today's Good Word started out as Latin campio, campiones, from campus "(playing) field". It originally meant "contestant on the playing field" but later came to mean the winner of a battle or competition. For reasons hard to explain, CA became CHA in French as we see in chateau which derived from Latin castellus, the same word that gave us castle. We see the same shift in the names of Parisian boulevards, as the Champs d'Elysee "Elysian Fields" or the Champs d'Mars "Field of Mars (god of war)". From there, it is a small step outside of the arena to a supporter of any cause. The informal champ came in the mid 19th century. (Today's Good Word was suggested and written by the champion of the Good Word podcasts, Brian Gockley.)
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!
