# champion

Pronunciation: US/UK say "CHAM-pee-uhn" /ˈt͡ʃæmpiən/; AUS say "CHAM-pyuhn" /ˈt͡ʃæmpjən/

## Noun

1. A person, team, or animal that has won a contest or competition, especially one holding the top title in a sport or game.
   - Simple: A person or team that has won a game or contest and holds the top prize.
   - _The reigning champion will defend the title next month._
   - _Spectators cheered as the champion crossed the finish line first._
4. A person who fights or argues for a cause or a particular position.
   - Simple: A person who fights or speaks up for a cause.
   - _She is widely seen as a champion of human rights._
   - _The activist became a leading champion for environmental reform._
5. A person who fights or competes on behalf of another person or of a group, especially in single combat.
   - Simple: A person chosen to fight or compete for another person or for a group.
   - _The clans each named a champion to settle the dispute by combat._
   - _She was chosen as her guild's champion for the tournament._

## Verb

2. To publicly promote, support, and fight for a cause, person, or idea.
   - Simple: To strongly support a cause or idea and fight for it.
   - _The senator championed the housing bill throughout her term._
   - _Community groups champion the protection of local wetlands._

## Adjective

3. Describing a person, team or animal that has won the top title by beating all rivals, used before a noun.
   - Simple: Being the winner who has beaten everyone else.
   - _The champion racehorse returned to the track after a long rest._
   - _Their champion debate team has lost no contest in three years._
6. Outstanding; surpassing all others; beyond compare.
   - Simple: So good that it is better than all others.
   - _The team produced a champion effort in the final quarter._
   - _Uncle Ray was a champion worrier who could find something to fret about in even the sunniest weather forecast._
7. Very good indeed: first-rate and well worth praising. *(dialectal, British, Ireland)*
   - Simple: Really good, and worth a lot of praise.
   - _The weather's been champion all week up north._
   - _Your Sunday dinner was champion, thank you._

## Verb

8. To challenge or defy a person, as to single combat or a formal contest. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To challenge someone, daring them to a fight or contest.

## Other meanings

- (noun) An exceptionally notable specimen of a plant species, such as one of unusually great size.

## Origin

Frankish *kampijō ("fighter") gave Medieval Latin campio ("combatant in a duel, champion"), and that word reached English through Old French champion and Middle English champioun. Further back it traces through Proto-West Germanic words for a combat soldier and for battle, built on *kamp ("battlefield"), which West Germanic had borrowed from Latin campus ("a field, a plain, a place of action").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/champion (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).