camp

Etymology 1

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. 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

1. An outdoor place acting as temporary accommodation in tents or other temporary structures.
2. An organised event, often taking place in tents or temporary accommodation.
3. A base of a military group, not necessarily temporary.
4. A single hut or shelter.
   a hunter's camp
5. The company or body of persons encamped.
6. A group of people with the same strong ideals or political leanings.
7. (obsolete) An army.
8. (uncommon) Campus
9. (informal) A summer camp.
10. (prison slang) A prison.
    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
11. (agriculture) A mound of earth in which potatoes and other vegetables are stored for protection against frost
12. (obsolete) Conflict; battle.

verb

1. To live in a tent or similar temporary accommodation.
   We're planning to camp in the field until Sunday.
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.
   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. (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.

Etymology 2

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.

noun

1. An affected, exaggerated or intentionally tasteless style.
   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. 1985-09-02, Joe Klein, quoting Douglas S. Cramer, “The Real Star of ‘Dynasty’”, in New York, page 34
   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. 1996-03-31, Trip Gabriel, “Showgirls' Crawls Back As High Camp at Midnight”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

adj

1. Theatrical; making exaggerated gestures.
2. (of a man) Ostentatiously 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, 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
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, page 123

Etymology 3

From Spanish campo (“countryside”).

noun

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.