champagne

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a region in France, known for producing the eponymous sparkling wine

   I spent part of my summer in Champagne.

2. 2
   noun

   a white sparkling wine either produced in Champagne or resembling that produced there

   We opened a bottle of champagne last night.

3. 3
   noun

   A sparkling white wine made from a blend of grapes, especially Chardonnay and pinot, produced in Champagne, France, by the méthode champenoise.

   We suppose that this author has done his best to be satirical; and he may have thought that his subject would have inspired him with all that was smart and piquant: but the plain truth is that the promised champagne turns out to be vapid small beer.

4. 4
   noun

   Any sparkling wine made by the méthode champenoise.

   I’ve been saving an excellent Brazilian champagne for a special occasion.

5. 5
   noun

   A glass of champagne.

   "I'm not scared of needles, but I certainly don’t like them," she says. "I had a champagne en route to the clinic – maybe two – which I'd probably not recommended, but whatever works, right?[…]"

6. 6
   noun

   A very pale brownish-gold colour, similar to that of champagne.

   Suede Leather Hat, in gray, champagne, rose or blue, flower-trimmed.

7. 7
   noun

   (An ordinary occupying) the base of the shield, either flat-topped (like the chief at the top of the shield) or curved (as in a mount or trimount).

   Alternative forms: champaine, champain

8. 8
   adj

   Of a very pale brownish-gold colour, similar to that of champagne.

   This is the year! With champagne colors the thing on the fashion scene, Clairol is popping the corks on 4 new Champagne Blondes^®! […] Clairol's Creme Toner is your choice of Champagne color.

Etymology

Borrowed from French champagne (“sparkling wine from the Champagne region”), from Champagne (“region and former province of France”), from Late Latin campānia (in full Campānia Rēmēnsis), from campāneus (“of or pertaining to the fields”), from Latin campus (“level ground; field, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂emp- (“to bend, curve”). The English word is a doublet of campagna (“flat stretch of countryside”) (dated), campaign, and campania.