English
campaign
Campaign comes from Italian campagna ‘field, military operation’, from Late Latin campānia ‘open country, battlefield’, and ultimately from Latin campus ‘field’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcampus‘field’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcampānia‘open country’
- Italianc. 1300–presentcampagna‘field’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcampagne
- Englishearliest quotation 1965campaign
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcampus‘field’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcampānia‘open country’
- Italianc. 1300–presentcampagna‘field’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcampagne
- Englishearliest quotation 1965campaign
Earliest quotation: 1965, Harry S. Truman, Merle Miller: “MILLER: Mr. President, I wonder if you could tell…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em- ‘to bend, to curve’
camera, chamber, chimney, cabaret, kam, camaraderie, gam, skimp, camber, cantonment, jamb, gamba, chambray, 22 more
through Latin campus ‘field’
champion, campus, champ, kemp, campo, campion, 9 more
through Late Latin campānia ‘open country, battlefield’
Today it means
noun A series of operations undertaken to achieve a set goal.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin campus / campaign