camp

Noun (1)

earlier, "area, usually enclosed and fortified, occupied by elements of an army during a campaign or for training," borrowed from Middle French (earliest in lit de can "camp bed"), probably from Picard & Norman dialect camp "field" or Old Occitan can, camp "field, jousting lists, military camp," going back to Latin campus "flat expanse of land, plain, field," of uncertain origin

Note: The Latin word has been compared with *kamp-, a presumed substratal root evident in words denoting bends, curves, crookedness, etc. (see jamb). Analogy has been drawn to Greek ánkos "valley, glen" and ankýlos "bent, curved," ankṓn "elbow, bend," etc., though ánkos scarcely accords with the meaning "flat expanse of land."

Verb (1)

borrowed from Middle French camper "(of troops) to establish a camp," derivative of camp "area occupied by elements of an army, camp entry 1"

Noun (2)

origin uncertain

Note: The word camp as noun, adjective and verb (here camp entry 3, camp entry 4 and camp entry 5) all appear around the same time, at the end of the first decade of the twentieth century; hence it is difficult to determine which part of speech was primary and which derived. The word is almost certainly older, though the evidence is less direct. On October 22 and 23, 1874, newspapers in Manchester, England, reported on the judicial examination of three men apprehended the previous evening wearing women's clothing. One of the men, Francis Mack, was carrying a ticket on which was printed "Her Majesty Queen of Camp will hold a levee and grand bal-masque [i.e., bal masqué 'a masked ball'] on Wednesday, Oct. 21st, 1874." The men had been charged with vagrancy, but since there was no proof that they were vagrants, they were released, with stern admonishments by the judge on the foolishness of their behavior. (See full text and bibliographical references at Rictor Norton, editor, "Queen of Camp, 1874", Homosexuality in Nineteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, at rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/1874camp.htm, accessed 10/23/2023.) Another piece of early evidence is the word campish, presumably "somewhat camp," which appears in a letter written on November 21, 1868, by William Frederick Park to Lord Arthur Clinton; the letter was produced and read to the court during a judicial examination of Park and Thomas on May 28, 1870, after both had been arrested wearing women's clothing. The letter reads "My 'campish undertakings' are not at present meeting with the success that they deserve; whatever I do seems to get me into hot water somewhere" (The Observer, May 29, 1870, p. 3). Nothing in the letter further elucidates the word. It has been suggested that camp in the lexicon of gay British men is somehow derived from camp entry 1, as denoting either the dash and bravado of military life or its permissiveness. The Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, avers that camp is probably borrowed from French se camper, glossed as "(colloquial) to assume a proud, bold, or provocative posture, to strike a pose (1671 in Molière)." Trésor de la langue française defines se camper, literally, "to establish a camp," as "often informal, dated to set oneself in a posture implying boldness, and sometimes bravado or cheekiness" ("souvent fam[ilier], vieilli. s'établir, s'installer dans une posture impliquant la hardiesse, parfois la bravade ou le sans-gêne"). This usage is derived from the literal sense of se camper "to establish a camp." The etymology is possible, but the lines of transmission that would lead from French to English are not clear. Paul Baker lists camp as both Polari (a lexicon used among gay men in Britain with roots in the argot of theatrical and circus performers) and general slang, a treatment also accorded to drag—see drag entry 3; see Fantabulosa : A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang (London, 2004), p. 93-94.

Adjective

perhaps derivative of camp entry 3

Note: See note at camp entry 3.

Verb (2)

perhaps derivative of camp entry 3

Note: See note at camp entry 3.