What is "champion"

Champion \Cham"pi*on\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Championed; p. pr. & vb. n. Championing.] [Obs.]
--Shak. 2. To furnish with a champion; to attend or defend as champion; to support or maintain; to protect.

Championed or unchampioned, thou diest.
--Sir W. Scott.

Champion \Cham"pi*on\ (ch[a^]m"p[i^]*[u^]n), n. [F. champion, fr. LL.campio, of German origin; cf. OHG. chempho, chemphio, fighter, champf, G. kampf, contest; perh. influenced by L. campus field, taken in the sense of ``field of battle.'']

1. One who engages in any contest; especially one who in ancient times contended in single combat in behalf of another's honor or rights; or one who now acts or speaks in behalf of a person or a cause; a defender; an advocate; a hero.

   A stouter champion never handled sword.
   --Shak.

   Champions of law and liberty.
   --Fisher Ames.

2. One who by defeating all rivals, has obtained an acknowledged supremacy in any branch of athletics or game of skill, and is ready to contend with any rival; as, the champion of England.

   Note: Champion is used attributively in the sense of surpassing all competitors; overmastering; as, champion pugilist; champion chess player.

   Syn: Leader; chieftain; combatant; hero; warrior; defender; protector.

early 13c., "doughty fighting man, valorous combatant," also (c.1300) "one who fights on behalf of another or others," from Old French champion "combatant, champion in single combat" (12c.), from Late Latin campionem (nominative campio) "gladiator, fighter, combatant in the field," from Latin campus "field (of combat);" see campus. Had been borrowed earlier by Old English as cempa. Sports sense in reference to "first-place performer in some field" is recorded from 1730.

"to fight for, defend, protect," 1820 (Scott) in a literal sense, from champion (n.). Figurative use by 1830. Earlier it meant "to challenge" (c.1600). Related: Championed; championing.

n. 1 (surname) 2 A village in Alberta, Canada. 3 A ghost town in California. 4 A CDP in Nebraska. 5 A town and hamlet in New York.

v. protect or fight for as a champion [syn: defend]

adj. holding first place in a contest; "a champion show dog"; "a prizewinning wine" [syn: prizewinning]

1. n. someone who has won first place in a competition [syn: champ, title-holder]

2. someone who fights for a cause [syn: fighter, hero, paladin]

3. a person who backs a politician or a team etc.; "all their supporters came out for the game"; "they are friends of the library" [syn: supporter, protagonist, admirer, booster, friend]

4. someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field [syn: ace, adept, sensation, maven, mavin, virtuoso, genius, hotshot, star, superstar, whiz, whizz, wizard, wiz]

Champion is a 2002 South Korean film directed by Kwak Kyung-taek, about South Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim, portrayed by Yu Oh-seong.

Champion was a supermarket chain that operated in France and owned by the international retailer Carrefour. There were also Champion supermarkets in Belgium, Spain, Poland, Greece, Turkey and Argentina.

Champion, in comics, may refer to:

• Champion of the Universe, a Marvel Comics character and a member of The Elders
• The Champion (comics), a British comic
• Champion, two DC Comics characters, the second of which was an alias used by Hercules

It may also refer to:

• Champions (comics), a Marvel Comics superhero team
• Imus Champion, an enemy of Hawkeye, the Avengers and Squadron Supreme
• Christopher Champion, Martin's son who went by the alias Tempest

A champion (from the late Latin campio) is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further (artificial) divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions can be accordingly styled, e.g. national champion, world champion.

A champion is a first-place winner in a competition, along with other definitions discussed in the article.

Champion or Champions may also refer to:

Champion was a straight edge hardcore punk band that was formed by vocalist Jim Hesketh, and guitarist Chris Williams, in the spring of 1999 in Seattle, Washington.

Champion is a light rail station operated by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). Champion is served by the Mountain View-Winchester light rail line. The station is decorated with a number of icons commonly used to depict routers, switches and other networking devices on network maps as a nod to Cisco Systems, whose San Jose campus surrounds the station.

Champion EP is Brother Ali's third release. The 9-song EP was released on Rhymesayers Entertainment on May 11, 2004 and is produced by Ant of Atmosphere.

Champion is a 1949 American film noir drama sport film based on a short story by Ring Lardner. Filmed in it recounts the struggles of boxer "Midge" Kelly fighting his own demons while working to achieve success in the boxing ring. The drama was directed by Mark Robson, with cinematography by Franz Planer. The drama features Kirk Douglas, Marilyn Maxwell, and Arthur Kennedy.

The film won an Academy Award for Editing and gained five other nominations as well, including a Best Actor for Douglas.

Several clips from the film were used in Douglas' 1999 film Diamonds to illustrate his character's career as a boxer.

Champion or alternatively also stylized as Champion U.S.A is an American manufacturer of clothing, specializing in sportswear. The brand is a subsidiary of HanesBrands Inc. (based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina), which was spun off by the Sara Lee Corporation. The company was originally based in Rochester, New York, prior to its acquisition by Sara Lee.

Champion is HanesBrands' second largest brand with the namesake Hanes brand in first place. Other brands owned by HanesBrands Inc. are Playtex (its third largest brand), Bali, Just My Size, Barely There, Wonderbra, L’eggs, C9 by Champion, Duofold, Beefy-T, Outer Banks, Sol y Oro, Rinbros, Zorba and Ritmo.

Champion produced uniforms for some National Basketball Association teams during the 1990s, and some NFL teams during the 1980s and 1990s. It has also produced sportswear for many major colleges.

From 2008, Champion produced kits for Premier League side, Wigan Athletic, the Wales national football team and the jersey of the Greek basketball team., also Pallacanestro Cantù, in Italy.

For many years Champion supplied the athletic uniforms for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In 2001 Notre Dame signed a 5 year exclusive agreement with Adidas, which ended a partnership Champion had with the university that spanned over 50 years.

The Champion Idealist is one of the 16 role variants of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, a self-assessed personality questionnaire designed to help people better understand themselves. David Keirsey originally described the Champion role variant; however, a brief summary of the personality types described by Isabel Myers contributed to its development. Champions correlate with the Myers-Briggs type ENFP.

"Champion" is a pop song recorded by Swedish singer Agnes taken from her second album Stronger. The track was written by Agnes Carlsson, Curtis A. Richardson, and Emanuel Olsson and produced by Emanuel Olsson for Cosmos Productions. It was released as the album's second single in Sweden.

"Champion" is a song by American hip-hop artist Kanye West. It was released as the second song on the track-listing of his third studio album, Graduation. The track was produced by West and Brian "All Day" Miller and contains elements of " Kid Charlemagne" by the jazz-rock band Steely Dan. Though not released as a single, "Champion" managed to debut and peak at ninety-nine and ninety-four on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and Pop 100 chart respectively. The official music video for the song was directed by Nabil Elderkin and released on August 12, 2008 on West's blog.

Champion is The Audition's second full-length album. It was released on January 14, 2008 in the UK and, in the USA on January 22, 2008 by Victory Records. It has roughly sold 75,000 copies since its release in 2008.

The Champion was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway between New York City and Miami or St. Petersburg, Florida. It operated from 1939 until 1979, continuing under the Seaboard Coast Line and Amtrak. It was a direct competitor to the Seaboard Air Line Railway's Silver Meteor, the first New York-Florida streamliner.

Champion is a sports drama Bengali film was released in 2003. Directed by Rabi Kinagi, the movie featured Jeet and Srabanti Chatterjee. This movie is Jeet's third movie and Srabanti Chatterjee's debut movie. The movie is a remake of 1999 Telugu movie Thammudu which was inspired by Aamir Khan's Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar.

Champion is the fifth studio album from singer and drag queen RuPaul. It was released on February 24, 2009. The album is a mix of dance, electro pop, R&B, and hip-hop. The album failed to reach the Billboard 200, however, it managed to peak at number 12 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums as well as number 26 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.

Champion Automobilwerke GmbH was a German producer of small cars, initially manufacturing in Paderborn. The cars were produced and sold by a succession of businesses between 1952 and 1958. At the outset the cars were impressively simple and inexpensive, but as they became slightly less simple they also lost much of their price advantage. As larger manufacturers moved centre stage in the German auto-market, the producers of the Champion failed to achieve the volumes necessary to justify the investment needed to develop and produce the cars: the brief story of the marque is one of a succession of financial crises and failures.

Champion is an American brand of spark plug.

Originally Champion was a Fortune 500 Company founded by Robert A. Stranahan and Frank D. Stranahan in 1908 in Boston and then moved to Toledo, Ohio in 1910 to be close to the Willys-Overland Auto Company.

In 1989, Champion was purchased by Cooper Industries and is now a wholly owned brand of Federal-Mogul Corporation. Its main products are a line of spark plugs for a wide range of cars, trucks, SUVs, racing and marine applications. Also included in the brand are spark plug wires and other ignition system specific wiring.

Champion is also a longtime sponsor of various racing events, cars, and series including two series run under sanctioning by IMSA.

"Champion" is the official second single from Ace Hood's second album, Ruthless. It features Jazmine Sullivan and Rick Ross.

Champion is a Canadian sports biography television series which aired on CBC Television in 1969.

"Champion" is a song by British rapper Chipmunk featuring American singer Chris Brown from Chipmunk's second studio album Transition (2011). It was released as the second single from the album on 6 February 2011 in the United Kingdom. The song was written by Harmony Samuels, Chipmunk, Eric Bellinger, and Erika Nuri, and it was produced by Samuels. According to Chipmunk, he wants the listeners of the song to "feel like they were born a champion". The song was later added to the international Deluxe edition of Brown's fourth album, F.A.M.E. (2011).

The song peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Chipmunk's second highest-charting single.

Champion is a 2000 Bollywood action film directed by Padam Kumar and starring Sunny Deol and Manisha Koirala.

"Champion" is a single by Danish rapper, singer, music writer, actor Clemens. It was released in Denmark as a digital download on 10 October 2010. The song has peaked to number 1 on the Danish Singles Chart. The song features vocals from Danish singer Jon Nørgaard.

"Champion" is a song by Trinidadian American recording artist Nicki Minaj, taken from her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012). The song features additional vocals from hip hop artists Drake, Nas, and Young Jeezy. "Champion" was written by Minaj, Aubrey Graham, Jay Jenkins, and Nasir Jones, while the production and additional writing was handled by Pink Friday (2010) collaborators T-Minus and Nikhil Seetharam. Musically, "Champion" is a downtempo hardcore hip hop ballad that also incorporates elements of R&B, new-age, and space music. The lyrics speak of each artist's rise to fame, as well as the trials and tribulations that it carries; it references the death of Minaj's cousin, Nicholas Telemaque, who was murdered near his Brooklyn home on July 3, 2011.

"Champion" garnered praise from music critics, with the majority declaring it a stand-out track. The song is notable for the return of Minaj's original low-key sound, as well as her tame "gimmick-free" delivery as opposed to her eccentric "Roman" songs. Critics generally praised the song for its serious tone and introspective nature. Minaj performed the song live for the first time on 106 & Park on April 3, 2012, along with " Beez in the Trap", and " Roman Reloaded".

Champion (1797 – after 1809) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from May 1800 to May 1802 he ran nine times and won five races. In the summer of 1800 he proved himself one of the best British colts of his generation, winning the Epsom Derby on his racecourse debut. Later that year he became the first Derby winner to win the St Leger, a feat which was not equalled until 1848. He was retired from racing after being injured on his only start as a five-year-old in 1802.

"Champion" is a single release by English group Clement Marfo & The Frontline. The song was released in the United Kingdom as a digital download on July 20, 2012. The song peaked to number 38 on the UK Singles Chart. The song features on the soundtrack of the video game F1 2011 and the 2010 film StreetDance 3D, and was the official theme song of the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view in 2013.

Champion is a dystopian young adult novel and the third and final book in the Legend trilogy by novelist Marie Lu. It was released on 5 November 2013.

Champion is the eighth studio album from Christian music songstress Beckah Shae. The album was released on May 6, 2014 through her independent label Shae Shoc Records. This album was produced by her husband Jack "Shoc" Shocklee. The album charted on three Billboard charts, and it received a four star rating from New Release Tuesday.

Champion, shampion or sampion is a hybrid cultivar of domesticated apple developed c. 1960 in Czech republic from crossing a Golden Delicious and a Cox Orange Pippin. The fruit has a non-uniform skin color.

Champion is a surname.

Notable people so named include:

• Nicolas Champion (c. 1475–1533), Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer in the Habsburg court
• Jacques Champion de Chambonnières (c. 1601–1672), French Baroque composer also known as Jacques Champion
• Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty (1768–1815), French cavalry commander
• Henry Champion (general) (1751–1836) American general in the Continental Army
• Albert Champion (cricketer) (1851–1909), Yorkshire cricketer
• Albert Champion (cyclist) (1878–1927), French road racing cyclist and spark plug manufacturer
• Henry Hyde Champion (1859–1928), Australian social reformer and journalist
• Malcolm Champion (1883–1939), New Zealand's first Olympic swimmer and gold medalist
• Henry Champion (1866–1942), stage name of Harry Champion, a famous British music hall composer and star
• Frederick Walter Champion (1893–1970), English forester and wildlife photographer, who pioneered camera trapping
• Patricia Champion Frist, American businesswoman and philanthropist.
• Marge and Gower Champion (born 1919, and 1919–1980, respectively), American husband-and-wife dance partners and choreographers
• Bob Champion (born 1948), English jump jockey and subject of the 1983 film Champions
• Jon Champion (born 1965), English football commentator
• Richard Champion (born 1968), former Australian rules footballer
• Nick Champion (born 1972), Australian politician
• Philip Champion (born 1976), American basketball player
• Will Champion (born 1978), drummer/multi-instrumentalist for English band Coldplay
• Beau Champion (born 1986), Australian rugby league footballer

Champion is an American opera in 2 acts and 10 scenes, with music by Terence Blanchard and a libretto by Michael Cristofer. Based on the life of Welterweight prize fighting champion Emile Griffith, this opera is a joint co-commission by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) and Jazz St. Louis. It received its premiere at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, Webster University, on 15 June 2013. The opera received its second production, with a revised orchestration by Blanchard, by Opera Parallèle in San Francisco, in collaboration with SFJAZZ, in February 2016.

Champion developed out of conversations between OTSL and Jazz St. Louis, and the companies' shared desire to collaborate on a commission that would combine opera and jazz. Blanchard himself described the work, his first opera, with the term "opera in jazz" rather than a "jazz opera". In 2011, the Whitaker Foundation of St. Louis provided the initial $200,000 leadership gift needed to fund the commissioning and development costs of the new work. In 2012, Opera Theatre received a $1M (USD) challenge grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which would underwrite a substantial portion of the production costs of Champion, as well as Ricky Ian Gordon's opera 27 (premiered at OTSL in 2014) and a new production of Tobias Picker’s Emmeline (presented in 2015). Additional support for Champion was provided by the Fred M. Saigh Endowment at Opera Theatre, the National Endowment for the Arts, OPERA America's Opera Fund, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Phoebe Dent Weil, and The Aaron Copland Fund for Music.