Champagne
/ʃæmˈpeɪn/noun
A sparkling white wine from the Champagne region of France, or the region itself.
Did you know?The sparkling wine got its name from the Champagne region, whose Latin root *campania* meant an open, level plain — the same ancient root behind words tied to flat land and fields.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*k̂em-
“to lie down; to bend, curve, or be low/flat”
Latin
Latin
campania
“open country; a plain”
Late Latin
Latin
Campania
“a region of level country in Italy”
Old French
Old French
Champaigne
“the Champagne region of northeastern France”
Modern English
English
champagne
“sparkling wine from the Champagne region; by extension, the region itself”