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.
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.
1 more example
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.2013 June 18, Esther Felden, “Hell on earth”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 22 Jun 2015:
5
A single hut or shelter.
a hunter’s camp
6
The company or body of persons encamped.
The camp broke up with the confusion of a flight.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter IX, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
7
A group of people with the same strong ideals or political leanings.
Near-synonyms: faction, ingroup
She's in the camp that speaks as if all vaccines were poisons.
My Campe is like to Iulius Cæſars Hoſte, That neuer fought but had the victorie:c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
9
Australia A site where kangaroos and other macropods rest during the day.
‘We must have sat down on a kangaroo camp when we boiled the billy at midday,’ I remarked irritably. Laurie laughed while I burned three kangaroo ticks from my legs.1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 82:
Lantana is a sweet camp. It's an old hospital that has been converted to a drug treatment center for prisoners.2009, Nick Chandler, Jeanette Billings, Determined to Change: The Autobiography of Nick Chandler, page 184:
12
Agriculture, Business, LifestyleMisconstruction Misconstruction of clamp (“mound of earth in which potatoes and other vegetables are stored”).
13
British, India Anywhere that a colonist stayed when away from their permanent residence; such places collectively.
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.1889, Rudyard Kipling, “A Wayside Comedy”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 62:
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.
To live in a tent or similar temporary accommodation.
We're planning to camp in the field until Sunday.
A few hours before sundown we camped at a small playa lake sunk beneath the level of the grass.2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 73:
2
To set up a camp.
3
To afford rest or lodging for.
Had our great palace the capacity / To camp this host, we all would sup together.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene viii]:
4
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Video games To stay in an advantageous location.
Some players like to camp next to a power-up's spawning point.
‘So things have gone all right with a little watchfulness and the help of old Cockeye here and her buck. They camp just there, right close to the hut, and have been real faithful these last two years.’1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 243:
1 more example
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.1962, Coach & Athlete, page 18:
5
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
Australia Of stock animals, to assemble or rest temporarily at a particular place.
The bullocks camped in front on the big fire, with the black line of trees facing them.1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 10:
7
Video gamesAbbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of corpse camp.
8
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.
Etymology Unknown. Suggested origins include the 17th century French word camper (“to put oneself in a pose”), an assumed dialectal English word *camp or *kemp (“rough, uncouth”) and a derivation from camp (n.) Believed to be from Polari, otherwise obscure.
1
Theatrical; making exaggerated gestures.
2
Of a man Ostentatiously flamboyant or effeminate.
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[…]2007, David Rothwell, Dictionary of Homonyms, Wordsworth Editions, →ISBN, page 88:
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.2014, Sarah Lotz, The Three, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
3
Intentionally tasteless or vulgar; self-parodying.
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.”2002, Georges-Claude Guilbert, Madonna as Postmodern Myth, McFarland, →ISBN, page 123:
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.2024 April 5, Alexis Petridis, “Abba, cabaret and smug marionettes: the 1974 Eurovision song contest reviewed!”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Etymology Unknown. Suggested origins include the 17th century French word camper (“to put oneself in a pose”), an assumed dialectal English word *camp or *kemp (“rough, uncouth”) and a derivation from camp (n.) Believed to be from Polari, otherwise obscure.
1
An affected, exaggerated, or intentionally tasteless style.
Near-synonyms: campness, campiness
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.1985 September 2, Joe Klein, quoting Douglas S. Cramer, “The Real Star of ‘Dynasty’”, in New York, page 34:
1 more example
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.1996 March 31, Trip Gabriel, “Showgirls' Crawls Back As High Camp at Midnight”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Etymology Unknown. Suggested origins include the 17th century French word camper (“to put oneself in a pose”), an assumed dialectal English word *camp or *kemp (“rough, uncouth”) and a derivation from camp (n.) Believed to be from Polari, otherwise obscure.
1
To behave in a camp manner.
Oster and 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.1988 April 9, Gordon Gottlieb, “The Urban Gay Camp and Croon”, in Gay Community News, page 11:
Slang The areas of the Falkland Islands situated outside the capital and largest settlement, Stanley.
Falkland Islands
2
Slang An electoral constituency of the legislative assembly of the Falkland Islands that comprises all territory more than 3.5 miles from the spire of the Christ Church Cathedral in Stanley.
3
Slang The pampas, which are the vast grassy areas situated in the rural areas beyond Argentine cities such as Buenos Aires.