Thomas Hobbes’ 1628 translation of The Peloponnesian War introduced the word campaign with a meaning of “plain”, “field”, or “tract of open land”. Over time, it evolved to refer to “military operation in the field”, and by the 1770s, it was being figuratively applied to organized actions resembling military campaigns, leading to the political definition we know today. The term was adopted from the French word campagne, which translates to “countryside”. This French word, through Italian campagne or Old French champagne, has its roots in Latin campania with the same meaning. Originally, this Latin term was campus (a root seen in words like scamper, champion, camp, champagne, Camembert, and campus) and is believed to trace back to the Proto-Indo-European root khemp, signifying “bend” or “curve”.
