champerty

C3H4A1M3P3E1R1T1Y4

noun

The investing of money into a third party's lawsuit in which one has no vested interest.

OriginMiddle English champartie ← Middle French champart ← Latin campī →
Scrabble 21
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounchamperty (countable and uncountable, plural champerties)

plural champerties

  1. countableuncountablelawThe investing of money into a third party's lawsuit in which one has no vested interest.

Origin

  1. Latincampī“fields”
  2. Middle Frenchchampart“field rent (portion of produce of field paid to feudal lord)”
  3. Middle Englishchampartie
  4. Englishchamperty

From Middle English champartie, from Middle French champart (“field rent (portion of produce of field paid to feudal lord)”), probably from Latin campī (“fields”) + pars (“part”).

More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

champerty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/champerty

MLA

“champerty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/champerty. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “champerty,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/champerty.

Source: champerty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.