champion
n. countablen. The winner of a major competition, like the World Cup or the Olympics. It can also mean a person who strongly defends a cause or another person.
n. The victor in a contest of skill, strength, or endurance; also, a person who advocates vigorously for a cause or on behalf of another person.
She is the current world champion.
He became a champion for animal rights after volunteering at the local shelter.
The retiring tennis champion was celebrated not only for her victories but also as a tireless champion of gender equality in professional sports.
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em-der. Proto-Indo-European *kh₂ém-po-s Proto-Italic *kampos Latin campusbor. Frankish *kamp Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Germanic *-janą Frankish *-jan Frankish *kampijan Proto-Germanic *-jô Frankish *-jō Frankish *kampijōbor. Medieval Latin campiō Old French champiunbor. Middle English champioun English champion From Middle English champioun, from Old French champion, from Medieval Latin campio (“combatant in a duel, champion”), from Frankish kampijō (“fighter”), from Proto-West Germanic kampijō (“combat soldier”), a derivative of kampijan (“to battle, to campaign”), itself a derivative of kamp (“battlefield, battle”), ultimately a borrowing in West-Germanic from Latin campus (“a field, a plain, a place of action”). By surface analysis champ + -ion. Cognate with Old English cæmpa, cempa (“soldier, warrior, champion”), Old High German kempfeo, kempfo (“fighter, warrior, champion”), whence archaic German Kempfe (“fighter”).
Commonly followed by 'of' to specify the competition ('champion of the world') or the cause ('a champion of free speech').