camp
/ˈkeə̯mp/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.79 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An outdoor place acting as temporary accommodation in tents or other simple structures.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An organised event, often taking place in tents or temporary accommodation.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A place of politically motivated confinement in outdoorsy conditions, usually also leading to slave labor and death.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: campsite, campground, encampment"
- "There's a big camp in the woods northwest of here. It's popular with hikers and bushcrafters."
- "I met my best friend last summer at camp. She lives in Albany and plays the clarinet."
- "He used to go to summer camp every alternate year."
- "I met my girlfriend last summer at camp. You wouldn't know her — she lives in Canada."
- "Near-synonym: encampment"
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkeə̯mp/