Etymology

kemp

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Today it means: A coarse or bristly hair, whisker; (in the plural) knotty hairs that will not felt. Full definition →

Middle English kempe ← Old English cenep ← Proto-West Germanic *kanip
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kemp · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵénus“jaw”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kanipaz“beard, moustache, whiskers”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kanip
  4. Old English · inherited fromcenep“moustache; bit (of a bridle, bristling with points)”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromkempe“coarse hairs”
  6. English todaykemp

From Middle English kempe (“coarse hairs”), from Old English cenep (“moustache; bit (of a bridle, bristling with points)”), from Proto-West Germanic *kanip, from Proto-Germanic *kanipaz (“beard, moustache, whiskers”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus (“jaw”). Related to chin.

kemp · adjective2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromkempe
  2. English todaykemp

From Middle English kempe, campe (“shaggy, rough”).

kemp · verb, noun3

  1. Latin · derived fromcampus
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kampijan“to campaign, do battle”
  3. Old English · inherited from*cempan“to do battle, fight”
  4. Middle English · inherited fromkempen
  5. English todaykemp

From Middle English kempen, from Old English *cempan (“to do battle, fight”), from Proto-West Germanic *kampijan (“to campaign, do battle”), ultimately from Latin campus.

kemp · noun4

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kh₂em-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kh₂ém-po-s
  3. Proto-Italic*kampos
  4. Latincampus
  5. Proto-West Germanic*kamp
  6. Proto-West Germanic*kampijan
  7. Proto-West Germanic*kampijō
  8. Old Englishcempa
  9. Middle Englishkempe
  10. English todaykemp

From Middle English kempe, from Old English cempa (“warrior, fighter, champion”), from Proto-West Germanic *kampijō (“fighter”), ultimately from Latin campus. Doublet of champion. Cognate with literary German Kämpe (“champion, fighter”), German Kempf.

Kemp · proper noun5

  1. Middle Dutch · derived fromcanep“hemp”
  2. English todayKemp

* As an English, Scottish, Dutch, and north/Low German surname, from the noun kemp (“champion, warrior”), similar to Kampf. * As a Dutch and West Flemish occupational surname, from Middle Dutch canep (“hemp”) (see modern hennep). * Also as a Dutch surname Van der Kemp, Brabantine variant of Van der Kamp, from van (“of”) + der (“the”) + kamp (“camp”), related to the first sense above. The place names are from the surname.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*ǵénus all →

chin

Latincampus all →

campuscampaigncampchampionchampagnecampaniacampimeter

Proto-West Germanic*kampijō all →

champion

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.