Also 6 ? champion, 7–8 cham-, campinion, 8 -pignion. [a. Fr. champignon (14th c. in Littré):—L. type *campiniōn-em. OF. had champigneul = It. campignuolo:—L. type *campinolius. Both forms appear to be derivatives of camp-us field, open country, but their structure is not clear.]
A name applied originally (as in French) to fungi, or mushrooms generally; in 18th c. to edible mushrooms, esp. Agaricus campestris; but, subsequently, restricted to the Fairy Ring Agaric (A. Oreades).
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. ii. 6. Venemous Champions or Tode stooles.
1657. Tomlinson, Renou’s Disp., 258. Scarce an inveterate tree but some kind of campinion adheres thereunto.
1681. T. Dineley, Jrnl. Tour Irel., in Trans. Kilkenny Archæol. Soc., Ser. II. I. 179. Mushrooms, toadstooles, or champinions are in great number good and fair.
1693. Dryden, Juvenal, v. (1697), 106 (J.).
| He viler Friends with doubtful Mushrooms treats, | |
| Secure for you, himself Champignons eats. |
1708. Phil. Trans., XXVI. 78. The Champinion or Toad-stool.
1743. W. Watson, in Phil. Trans., XLII. 601. Although many Species of Mushrooms are eatable,… the Gardeners only propagate that Sort with red Gills, called, by way of Excellence, Champignon, a Name given by the French to all sorts of Mushrooms.
1762. Hudson, Flor. Angl., Agaricus Orcades, champignion.
1775. J. Lightfoot, Flora Scot. (1777), II. 1021. Champignion or Fairy Agaric.
1794. Martyn, Rousseau’s Bot., xxxii. 501. The Champignon or common eatable Mushroom.
1807. Wollaston, in Phil. Trans., XCVII. 137. The broadest rings that I have seen were those of the common mushroom (Ag. campestris); the narrowest … are those of the champignon (Ag. oreades of Dr. Withering).
1832. Veg. Subst. Food, 334. The champignon … grows on more moist land than the … mushroom.
