See also: Camp, CAMP, cAMP, Camp., câmp, cãmp, and cämp-

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English kampe (battlefield, open space), from Old English camp (battle, contest, battlefield, open space), from Proto-West Germanic *kamp (open field where military exercises are held, level plain), from Latin campus (open field, level plain), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂emp- (to bend; crooked). Reinforced circa 1520 by Middle French can, camp (place where an army lodges temporarily), from Old Northern French camp, from the same Latin (whence also French champ from Old French). Cognate with Old High German champf (battle, struggle) (German Kampf), Old Norse kapp (battle), Old High German hamf (paralysed, maimed, mutilated). Doublet of campus and champ.

The verb is from Middle English campen, from Old English campian, compian (to fight, war against), from Proto-West Germanic *kampōn (to fight, do battle), from *kamp (field, battlefield, battle), see above. Cognate with Dutch kampen, German kämpfen (to struggle), Danish kæmpe, Swedish kämpa.

Noun

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camp (countable and uncountable, plural camps)

  1. An outdoor place acting as temporary accommodation in tents or other simple structures.
    Hyponym: base camp
    Near-synonyms: campsite, campground, encampment
    There's a big camp in the woods northwest of here. It's popular with hikers and bushcrafters.
  2. An organised event, often taking place in tents or temporary accommodation.
    Hyponyms: summer camp, band camp
    I met my best friend last summer at camp. She lives in Albany and plays the clarinet.
    I met my girlfriend last summer at camp. You wouldn't know her — she lives in Canada.
  3. A base of a military group, not necessarily temporary.
    Near-synonym: encampment
    Signs of enemy recon were found near their camp last week.
  4. A place of politically motivated confinement in outdoorsy conditions, usually also leading to slave labor and death.
    Near-synonyms: concentration camp, labor camp, reeducation camp, gulag, stalag, prison camp
    Some say they'll round us all up into camps, but if they come for us, we'll take some out with us, on our way out.
    • 2013 June 18, Esther Felden, “Hell on earth”, in Deutsche Welle[1], archived from the original on 22 June 2015[2]:
      Mr. Ahn Myong-Chol was a prison guard at Camp 22 in Hoeryong and a driver at the camps. He was there between 1990 and 1994. He is the one who reported that prisoners had been used for human experimentation inside the camps.
  5. A single hut or shelter.
    a hunter’s camp
  6. The company or body of persons encamped.
  7. A group of people with the same strong ideals or political leanings.
    Coordinate term: cult
    Near-synonyms: faction, ingroup
    She's in the camp that speaks as if all vaccines were poisons.
  8. (obsolete) An army.
  9. (uncommon) Clipping of campus.
  10. (prison slang) Any prison or prison camp.
    • 2009, Nick Chandler, Jeanette Billings, Determined to Change: The Autobiography of Nick Chandler, page 184:
      Lantana is a sweet camp. It's an old hospital that has been converted to a drug treatment center for prisoners.
  11. (agriculture, catachresis) Misconstruction of clamp (mound of earth in which potatoes and other vegetables are stored).
  12. (British India) Anywhere that a colonist stayed when away from their permanent residence; such places collectively.
    • 1889, Rudyard Kipling, “A Wayside Comedy”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 62:
      Then the Rains came, when no one could go into camp, and the Narkarra Road was washed away by the Kasun River, and in the cup-like pastures of Kashima the cattle waded knee-deep.
  13. (obsolete) Conflict; battle.
  14. An online game, in some cases roleplay, in which people compete against each other, usually in a structure similar to that of a competition show.
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • German: Camp
  • Irish: campa
  • Japanese: キャンプ (kyanpu)
  • Korean: 캠프 (kaempeu)
  • Malay: kem
  • Ottoman Turkish: قامپ
  • Scottish Gaelic: campa
  • Scottish Gaelic: campadh
  • Spanish: campo (semantic loan) (New Mexico)
  • Swahili: kambi
  • Thai: แคมป์ (kɛ́m)
Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

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camp (third-person singular simple present camps, present participle camping, simple past and past participle camped)

  1. To live in a tent or similar temporary accommodation.
    We're planning to camp in the field until Sunday.
    • 2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 73:
      A few hours before sundown we camped at a small playa lake sunk beneath the level of the grass.
  2. To set up a camp.
  3. (transitive) To afford rest or lodging for.
  4. (intransitive, sports, video games) To stay in an advantageous location.
    Some players like to camp next to a power-up's spawning point.
    • 1962, Coach & Athlete, page 18:
      Yet, even without the three second rule, where your big man could camp underneath and take those delightful “garbage” shots, there was little or no pivot offense, no cutting off the bucket.
  5. (transitive, video games) To stay beside (something) to gain an advantage.
    The easiest way to win on this map is to camp the double damage.
    Go and camp the flag for the win.
  6. (transitive, video games) Short for corpse camp.
  7. (intransitive, obsolete) To fight; contend in battle or in any kind of contest; to strive with others in doing anything; compete.
    • 1562, Leigh, The Accedens of Armory ː
      Aristotle affirmeth that Rauens will gather together on sides, and campe and fight for victorie.
  8. (intransitive, obsolete) To wrangle; argue.
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2

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Unknown. Suggested origins include the 17th century French word camper (to put oneself in a pose),[1] an assumed dialectal English word *camp or *kemp (rough, uncouth) and a derivation from camp (n.)[2] Believed to be from Polari, otherwise obscure.[3]

 
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Noun

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camp (uncountable)

  1. An affected, exaggerated, or intentionally tasteless style.
    Hyponyms: high camp, low camp
    Coordinate terms: cheesiness, hokiness, corniness, silliness
    Near-synonyms: campness, campiness
    • 1985 September 2, Joe Klein, quoting Douglas S. Cramer, “The Real Star of ‘Dynasty’”, in New York, page 34:
      We walk a fine line, just this side of camp. Careful calculations are made. We sense that while it might be wonderful for Krystle and Alexis to have a catfight in a koi pond, it would be inappropriate for Joan to smack Linda with a koi.
    • 1996 March 31, Trip Gabriel, “Showgirls' Crawls Back As High Camp at Midnight”, in The New York Times[3], →ISSN:
      Why would any Hollywood studio encourage a film's transformation into camp, in effect joining in the mockery of its own product? MGM declined to comment.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Adjective

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camp (comparative camper, superlative campest)

  1. Theatrical; making exaggerated gestures.
  2. (of a man) Ostentatiously effeminate.[4]
    • 2007, David Rothwell, Dictionary of Homonyms, Wordsworth Editions, →ISBN, page 88:
      More recently the word has become colloquial English for either implying that someone is a homosexual (‘he's very camp’), or for describing rather outre behaviour []
    • 2014, Sarah Lotz, The Three, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
      And to be honest, in the illustration Mr Tumnus does look as camp as fuck with his little scarf tied jauntily around his neck. I suppose it isn't outside the realms of possibility that he'd just been off cottaging with some centaurs in the forest. God.
  3. Intentionally tasteless or vulgar; self-parodying.
    Coordinate terms: cheesy, hokey, corny, silly
    • 2002, Georges-Claude Guilbert, Madonna as Postmodern Myth, McFarland, →ISBN, page 123:
      In Saturday Night Live, Madonna also unsurprisingly played Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, and a Joan Collins clone, all in a very camp way. As John Dean writes: “U.S. rock has a ruling camp queen with Madonna.”
    • 2024 April 5, Alexis Petridis, “Abba, cabaret and smug marionettes: the 1974 Eurovision song contest reviewed!”, in The Guardian[4], →ISSN:
      Here is Eurovision from a time before anyone watched it for camp value – you can’t imagine any gay bar in 1974 clearing its schedules to screen this; a Eurovision that takes itself rather seriously, a brief appearance by the Wombles notwithstanding.
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Hyponyms
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all senses
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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camp (third-person singular simple present camps, present participle camping, simple past and past participle camped)

  1. To behave in a camp manner.
    Synonym: camp it up
    • 1988 April 9, Gordon Gottlieb, “The Urban Gay Camp and Croon”, in Gay Community News, page 11:
      Oster and his his two co-stars, Jamie MacKenzie and Bill Martel, boogie and bop, sway and swish, camp and croon through tightly worked production numbers addressing a range of serious (and not so serious) issues that middle class, urban gay men come up against.
See also
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Descendants

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Etymology 3

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From Spanish campo (countryside).

Noun

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camp (countable and uncountable, plural camps)

  1. (slang, Falkland Islands) The areas of the Falkland Islands situated outside the capital and largest settlement, Stanley.
  2. An electoral constituency of the legislative assembly of the Falkland Islands that composes of all territory more than 3.5 miles from the spire of the Christ Church Cathedral in Stanley.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “camp”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ Michael Quinion, "Camp" in: World Wide Words, 2003
  3. ^ listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
  4. ^ Reuben, David R. (1969) chapter 8, in Everything you always wanted to know about sex but were too afraid to ask, New York: David McKay Company, Inc., published 1970, →LCCN, Homosexuals have their own language?, page 146:CAMP: be obviously and obnoxiously homosexual

Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Inherited from Latin campus (compare Occitan camp, French champ, Spanish campo), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂emp- (to bend, curve).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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camp m (plural camps)

  1. field (open area of land)
    Synonym: terreny
  2. camp (temporary outdoor accommodation)
    Synonym: campament
  3. field of study, discipline
    Synonym: disciplina
  4. (physics) field

Derived terms

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References

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  • “camp” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Chinese

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Etymology 1

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From English camp.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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camp

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) camp (organised event); summer camp

See also

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Etymology 2

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From English camp.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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camp

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) camp (effeminate)
Synonyms
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References

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  • Bauer, Robert S. (2021) ABC Cantonese-English Comprehensive Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN, page 538

Franco-Provençal

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French camp.

Noun

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camp m (plural camps) (ORB, broad)

  1. camp

Derived terms

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References

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  • camp in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
  • camp in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

French

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camp militaire pendant la guerre de 1914-18.

Etymology 1

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Probably from a Norman or Picard word equivalent to French champ (itself inherited from Old French champ and Latin), from Old Northern French camp, from Latin campus, or alternatively from Occitan camp, Old Occitan camp, possibly Italian campo. Doublet of campus and champ.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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camp m (plural camps)

  1. camp (outdoor area for tents, etc.)
    Il a dressé son camp de l’autre côté de la rivière.He erected his camp on the other side of the river.
  2. camp (area for politically motivated confinement)
    un camp de concentrationa concentration camp
  3. camp (military base)
    les camps ennemisthe enemy camps
  4. camp (faction, school of thought)
    Ce pays est partagé en deux camps.This country is divided into two camps.
  5. camp (holiday camp)
    un camp de vacancesa holiday camp
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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très camp!

Borrowed from English camp.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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camp (invariable)

  1. camp (Intentionally tasteless or vulgar, self-parodying, affected, exaggerated)
    Une folle camp ne peut jamais en faire trop.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Noun

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camp m (uncountable)

  1. campness; An affected, exaggerated or intentionally tasteless style
    La tactique des Sœurs dans la lutte contre le sida repose sur une stratégie politique : une utilisation du camp, une réappropriation revendiquée de l’efféminement, de la visibilité homosexuelle et de la follitude qui visent à désarmer les injonctions morales pesant sur la sexualité – sociales, religieuses, liées au sexe, au genre, aux pratiques sexuelles…
Synonyms
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Further reading

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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camp

  1. Alternative form of campen

Etymology 2

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Adjective

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camp

  1. Alternative form of kempe (shaggy)

Norman

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old Northern French camp (compare Old French champ), from Latin campus, from Proto-Indo-European *kamp- (to bend; crooked). Compare French champ.

Noun

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camp m (plural camps)

  1. (Guernsey) field

Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *kamp, from Latin campus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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camp m

  1. combat

Declension

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Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative camp campas
accusative camp campas
genitive campes campa
dative campe campum

Derived terms

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Noun

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camp n

  1. an enclosed piece of land

Descendants

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Old French

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Le camp du drap d'or.

Noun

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camp oblique singularm (oblique plural cans, nominative singular cans, nominative plural camp)

  1. Alternative form of champ (field)

Welsh

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Etymology

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From Middle Welsh camp, from Proto-Brythonic *kamp, from Latin campus, from the senses of "field of action, scope, opportunity, or produce of a field". Doublet of Caint (Kent) and siampên (champagne).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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camp f (plural campau)

  1. feat, accomplishment
    Synonym: gorchest
  2. sport, contest

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Mutated forms of camp
radical soft nasal aspirate
camp gamp nghamp champ

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.