What is "camp follower"

Camp \Camp\ (k[a^]mp), n. [F. camp, It. campo, fr. L. campus plant, field; akin to Gr. kh^pos garden. Cf. Campaign, Champ, n.]

1. The ground or spot on which tents, huts, etc., are erected for shelter, as for an army or for lumbermen, etc.
   --Shak.

2. A collection of tents, huts, etc., for shelter, commonly arranged in an orderly manner.

   Forming a camp in the neighborhood of Boston.
   --W. Irving.

3. A single hut or shelter; as, a hunter's camp.

4. The company or body of persons encamped, as of soldiers, of surveyors, of lumbermen, etc.

   The camp broke up with the confusion of a flight.
   --Macaulay.

5. (Agric.) A mound of earth in which potatoes and other vegetables are stored for protection against frost; -- called also burrow and pie. [Prov. Eng.]

6. [Cf. OE. & AS. camp contest, battle. See champion.] An ancient game of football, played in some parts of England.
   --Halliwell.

   Camp bedstead, a light bedstead that can be folded up onto a small space for easy transportation.

   camp ceiling (Arch.), a kind ceiling often used in attics or garrets, in which the side walls are inclined inward at the top, following the slope of the rafters, to meet the plane surface of the upper ceiling.

   Camp chair, a light chair that can be folded up compactly for easy transportation; the seat and back are often made of strips or pieces of carpet.

   Camp fever, typhus fever.

   Camp follower, a civilian accompanying an army, as a sutler, servant, etc.

   Camp meeting, a religious gathering for open-air preaching, held in some retired spot, chiefly by Methodists. It usually last for several days, during which those present lodge in tents, temporary houses, or cottages.

   Camp stool, the same as camp chair, except that the stool has no back.

   Flying camp (Mil.), a camp or body of troops formed for rapid motion from one place to another.
   --Farrow.

   To pitch (a) camp, to set up the tents or huts of a camp.

   To strike camp, to take down the tents or huts of a camp.

1. n. a prostitute who provides service to military personnel

2. a follower who is not a member of an ingroup

Camp follower is a term used to identify civilians and their children who follow armies. There are two common types of camp followers; first, the wives and children of soldiers, who follow their spouse or parent's army from place to place; the second type of camp followers have historically been informal army service providers, servicing the needs of encamped soldiers, in particular selling goods or services that the military does not supply—these have included cooking, laundering, liquor, nursing, sexual services and sutlery.