Chamorro Look up Chamorro at Dictionary.com
indigenous people of Guam and the Marianas Islands, from Spanish Chamorro, literally "shorn, shaven, bald." Supposedly because the men shaved their heads, but the name also has been connected to native Chamoru, said to mean "noble," so perhaps Chamorro is a Spanish folk etymology.
champ (n.) Look up champ at Dictionary.com
1868, American English abbreviation of champion (n.).
champ (v.) Look up champ at Dictionary.com
"to chew noisily," 1520s, probably echoic; OED suggests a connection with jam (v.). Earlier also cham, chamb, etc. (late 14c.). To champ on (or at) the bit, as an eager horse will, is attested in figurative sense by 1640s. Related: Champed; champing. As a noun in this sense, attested from c. 1600.
champagne (n.) Look up champagne at Dictionary.com
1660s, from French, short for vin de Champagne "wine made in Champagne," former province in northwest France, literally "open country" (see campaign (n.)). Originally any wine from this region, focused to the modern meaning late 18c.
champaign (n.) Look up champaign at Dictionary.com
"open country, plain," c. 1400, from Old French champagne "country, countryside," from Latin campania "plain, level country," especially that near Rome (see campaign (n.)).
champertous (adj.) Look up champertous at Dictionary.com
1640s, from champart, from French champart "portion of produce received by a feudal lord from land held in lease from him" (13c.), from Old North French campart-, probably from Latin campi pars "part of the field" (see campus + part (n.)). In later use often with reference to champerty (early 14c.), the illegal act whereby a person makes a bargain to maintain a litigant in return for a share of the gains if the case succeeds.
champignon (n.) Look up champignon at Dictionary.com
"mushroom," 1570s, from Middle French champignon (14c.), with change of suffix, from Old French champegnuel, from Vulgar Latin *campaniolus "that which grows in the field," from Late Latin campaneus "pertaining to the fields," from campania "level country" (see campaign (n.)).
champion (n.) Look up champion at Dictionary.com
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.
champion (v.) Look up champion at Dictionary.com
"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.
championship (n.) Look up championship at Dictionary.com
1812, "position of a champion," from champion (n.) + -ship. Meaning "competition to determine a champion" is recorded from 1893.
chance (n.) Look up chance at Dictionary.com
c. 1300, "something that takes place, what happens, an occurrence" (good or bad, but more often bad), from Old French cheance "accident, chance, fortune, luck, situation, the falling of dice" (12c., Modern French chance), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia "that which falls out," a term used in dice, from neuter plural of Latin cadens, present participle of cadere "to fall" (see case (n.1)).

In English frequently in plural, chances. The word's notions of "opportunity" and "randomness" are as old as the record of it in English and now all but crowd out the word's original notion of "mere occurrence." Main chance "thing of most importance" is from 1570s, bearing the older sense. The mathematical (and hence odds-making) sense is attested from 1778. To stand a chance (or not) is from 1796.

To take (one's) chances "accept what happens" (early 14c.) is from the old, neutral sense; to take a chance/take chances is originally (by 1814) "participate in a raffle or lottery or game;" extended sense of "take a risk" is by 1826.
chance (v.) Look up chance at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "to come about, to happen," from chance (n.). Meaning "to risk" attested from 1859. Related: Chanced; chancing.
chancel (n.) Look up chancel at Dictionary.com
c. 1300, "part of the church around the altar," from Old French chancel, from Late Latin cancellus "lattice," from Latin cancelli (plural) "grating, bars" (see cancel); sense extended in Late Latin from the lattice-work that separated the choir from the nave in a church to the space itself.
chancellery (n.) Look up chancellery at Dictionary.com
see chancery.
chancellor (n.) Look up chancellor at Dictionary.com
early 12c., from Old French chancelier (12c.), from Late Latin cancellarius "keeper of the barrier, secretary, usher of a law court," so called because he worked behind a lattice (Latin cancellus) at a basilica or law court (see chancel). In the Roman Empire, a sort of court usher; the post gradually gained importance in the Western kingdoms. A variant form, canceler, existed in Old English, from Old North French, but was replaced by this central French form.
chancery (n.) Look up chancery at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "court of the Lord Chancellor of England," contracted from chancellery (c. 1300), from Old French chancelerie (12c.), from Medieval Latin cancellaria (see chancellor).
chancre (n.) Look up chancre at Dictionary.com
also chanker, "venereal ulcer," c. 1600, from French chancre (15c.), literally "cancer," from Latin cancer (see cancer).
chancy (adj.) Look up chancy at Dictionary.com
1510s, "lucky, foreboding good fortune," from chance (n.) + -y (2). Meaning "uncertain, subject to risk" is recorded from 1860. The possible sense "full of opportunity" seems to have been used regularly only in cricket (1875).
chandelier (n.) Look up chandelier at Dictionary.com
late 14c., chaundeler "candlestick, chandelier," from Old French chandelier (n.1), 12c., earlier chandelabre "candlestick, candelabrum" (10c.), from Latin candelabrum, from candela "candle" (see candle). Re-spelled mid-18c. in French fashion; during 17c. the French spelling referred to a military device.
chandler (n.) Look up chandler at Dictionary.com
"maker or seller of candles," late 14c., attested as a surname from late 13c. (also, from early 14c. "candle-holder;" see chandelier), from Old French chandelier (n.2) "candle-maker, candle-seller; person in charge of lighting a household, monastery, etc.," from Latin candelarius, from candela "candle" (see candle). Native candleman is attested from mid-13c.
chandlery (n.) Look up chandlery at Dictionary.com
c. 1600, from Middle French chandelerie, from chandelier (see chandler).
Chanel Look up Chanel at Dictionary.com
Paris fashion house, founded by Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel (1883-1971), French fashion designer and perfumier, who opened her first shop in 1909. The perfume Chanel No. 5 debuted in 1921.
change (v.) Look up change at Dictionary.com
early 13c., "to substitute one for another; to make (something) other than what it was" (transitive); from late 13c. as "to become different" (intransitive), from Old French changier "to change, alter; exchange, switch," from Late Latin cambiare "to barter, exchange," from Latin cambire "to exchange, barter," of Celtic origin, from PIE root *kemb- "to bend, crook" (with a sense evolution perhaps from "to turn" to "to change," to "to barter"); cognate with Old Irish camm "crooked, curved;" Middle Irish cimb "tribute," cimbid "prisoner;" see cant (n.2). Meaning "to take off clothes and put on other ones" is from late 15c. Related: Changed; changing. To change (one's) mind is from 1610s.
change (n.) Look up change at Dictionary.com
c. 1200, "act or fact of changing," from Anglo-French chaunge, Old French change "exchange, recompense, reciprocation," from changier (see change (v.)).

Meaning "a different situation" is from 1680s. Meaning "something substituted for something else" is from 1590s. The financial sense of "balance returned when something is paid for" is first recorded 1620s; hence to make change (1865). Bell-ringing sense is from 1610s. Related: changes. Figurative phrase change of heart is from 1828.
changeable (adj.) Look up changeable at Dictionary.com
mid-13c., "unstable, inconstant, unreliable," from Old French changeable "inconstant," from changier (see change (v.)) + -able (see -able). Meaning "subject to variation" is from late 14c. Related: Changeably.
changeling (n.) Look up changeling at Dictionary.com
1550s, "one given to change," from change (n.) + diminutive suffix -ling. Meaning "person or thing left in place of one secretly taken" is from 1560s; specific reference to an infant or young child (usually stupid or ugly) supposedly left by the faeries in place of one they took is from 1580s. An earlier word for it was oaf or auf.
changer (n.) Look up changer at Dictionary.com
early 14c., agent noun from change (v.), or else from Old French changeour "money-changer, barterer," from changier.
channel (n.) Look up channel at Dictionary.com
early 14c., "bed of running water," from Old French chanel "bed of a waterway; tube, pipe, gutter," from Latin canalis "groove, channel, waterpipe" (see canal). Given a broader, figurative sense 1530s (of information, commerce, etc.); meaning "circuit for telegraph communication" (1848) probably led to that of "band of frequency for radio or TV signals" (1928).

English Channel is from 1825; the older name was British Channel (by 1730). John of Trevisa's Middle English translation of the encyclopedia De Proprietatibus Rerum (c. 1398) has frensshe see for "English Channel." The Channel Islands are the French Îles Anglo-Normandes.
channel (v.) Look up channel at Dictionary.com
1590s, "to wear channels in," from channel (n.). Meaning "convey in a channel" is from 1640s. Related: Channeled; channeling.
chanson (n.) Look up chanson at Dictionary.com
c. 1600, from French chanson, from Old French chançon "song, epic poem" (12c.), from Latin cantionem (nominative cantio) "song," from past participle stem of canere (see chant (v.)).
chant (v.) Look up chant at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Old French chanter "to sing, celebrate" (12c.), from Latin cantare "to sing," originally frequentative of canere "sing" (which it replaced), from PIE root *kan- "to sing" (source also of Greek eikanos "cock," Old English hana "cock," both literally "bird who sings for sunrise;" Old Irish caniaid "sings," Welsh canu "sing"). The frequentative quality of the word was no longer felt in Latin, and by the time French emerged the word had entirely displaced canere. Related: Chanted; chanting.
chant (n.) Look up chant at Dictionary.com
1670s, from chant (v.), or else from French chant (12c.), from Latin cantus "song, a singing; bird-song," from past participle stem of canere.
chanter (n.) Look up chanter at Dictionary.com
"singer, composer," late 14c., from Old French chanteor (Modern French chanteur), from Latin cantorem "singer," from cantare "to sing" (see chant (v.)).
chanteuse (n.) Look up chanteuse at Dictionary.com
"female singer of popular songs," 1888, from French chanteuse (16c.), fem. agent noun of chanter "to sing" (see chant (v.)). In Old French, the word was chanteresse.
chanticleer (n.) Look up chanticleer at Dictionary.com
"a cock," c. 1300, from Old French Chantecler "sing-loud" (Modern French Chanteclair), name of the cock in medieval stories of Reynard the Fox; from chanter "to sing" (see chant (v.)) + cler (see clear (adj.)).
Chantilly Look up Chantilly at Dictionary.com
town in France near Paris; as a kind of porcelain made there, 1774; in reference to a delicate lace originally made there, 1831. The place name is Medieval Latin Chantileium, from the Gallo-Roman personal name Cantilius.
chanty (n.) Look up chanty at Dictionary.com
1856, also shanty, chantey; probably an alteration of French chanter "to sing" (see chant (v.)); perhaps from French chantez, imperative of chanter.
Chanukah Look up Chanukah at Dictionary.com
also Chanukkah, 1891, from Hebrew hanukkah "consecration."
chaos (n.) Look up chaos at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "gaping void," from Old French chaos (14c.) or directly from Latin chaos, from Greek khaos "abyss, that which gapes wide open, is vast and empty," from *khnwos, from PIE root *gheu- "to gape, yawn" (source also of Greek khaino "I yawn," Old English ginian, Old Norse ginnunga-gap; see yawn (v.)).

Meaning "utter confusion" (c. 1600) is extended from theological use of chaos for "the void at the beginning of creation" in Vulgate version of Genesis (1530s in English). The Greek for "disorder" was tarakhe, however the use of chaos here was rooted in Hesiod ("Theogony"), who describes khaos as the primeval emptiness of the Universe, begetter of Erebus and Nyx ("Night"), and in Ovid ("Metamorphoses"), who opposes Khaos to Kosmos, "the ordered Universe." Meaning "orderless confusion" in human affairs is from c. 1600. Chaos theory in the modern mathematical sense is attested from c. 1977.
chaotic (adj.) Look up chaotic at Dictionary.com
1713, "in a state of primordial chaos," irregularly formed in English from chaos + -ic, probably on model of eros/erotic, demos/demotic, hypnos/hypnotic, etc. Transferred or figurative meaning "confused, disordered" is from 1747.
chap (n.) Look up chap at Dictionary.com
1570s, "customer," short for obsolete chapman "purchaser, trader" (see cheap). Colloquial sense of "lad, fellow" is first attested 1716 (compare slang tough customer).
chap (v.) Look up chap at Dictionary.com
"to crack," mid-15c., chappen (intransitive) "to split, burst open;" "cause to crack" (transitive); perhaps a variant of choppen (see chop (v.), and compare strap/strop), or related to Middle Dutch kappen "to chop, cut," Danish kappe, Swedish kappa "to cut." Related: Chapped; chapping. The noun meaning "fissure in the skin" is from late 14c.
chaparral (n.) Look up chaparral at Dictionary.com
"shrub thicket," 1850, American English, from Spanish chaparro "evergreen oak," perhaps from Basque txapar "little thicket," diminutive of sapar "heath, thicket."
In Spain, a chaparral is a bush of a species of oak. The termination al signifies a place abounding in; as, chaparral, a place of oak-bushes, almendral, an almond orchard; parral, a vineyard; cafetal, a coffee plantation, etc., etc.

This word, chaparral, has been introduced into the language since our acquisition of Texas and New Mexico, where these bushes abound. It is a series of thickets, of various sizes, from one hundred yards to a mile through, with bushes and briars, all covered with thorns, and so closely entwined together as almost to prevent the passage of any thing larger than a wolf or hare. [John Russell Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1859]
chapbook (n.) Look up chapbook at Dictionary.com
also chap-book, 1824, shortened from chap(man) book, so called because chapmen (see cheap) once sold such books on the street. A modern word for a type of old book.
chapeau (n.) Look up chapeau at Dictionary.com
1520s, from Middle French chapeau (Old French capel, 12c.) "hat," from Vulgar Latin *cappellus, from Late Latin capellum (also source of Italian cappello, Spanish capelo, Portuguese chapeo), diminutive of cappa (see cap (n.)).
chapel (n.) Look up chapel at Dictionary.com
early 13c., from Old French chapele (12c., Modern French chapelle), from Medieval Latin cappella "chapel, sanctuary for relics," literally "little cape," diminutive of Late Latin cappa "cape" (see cap (n.)); by tradition, originally in reference to the sanctuary in France in which the miraculous cape of St. Martin of Tours, patron saint of France, was preserved; meaning extended in most European languages to "any sanctuary." (While serving Rome as a soldier deployed in Gaul, Martin cut his military coat in half to share it with a ragged beggar. That night, Martin dreamed Christ wearing the half-cloak; the half Martin kept was the relic.)
chaperon (n.) Look up chaperon at Dictionary.com
1720, "woman accompanying a younger, unmarried lady in public," from French chaperon "protector," especially "female companion to a young woman," earlier "head covering, hood" (c. 1400), from Old French chaperon "hood, cowl" (12c.), diminutive of chape "cape" (see cap (n.)). "... English writers often erroneously spell it chaperone, app. under the supposition that it requires a fem. termination" [OED]. The notion is of "covering" the socially vulnerable one.
"May I ask what is a chaperon?"
"A married lady; without whom no unmarried one can be seen in public. If the damsel be five and forty, she cannot appear without the matron; and if the matron be fifteen, it will do."

[Catharine Hutton, "The Welsh Mountaineer," London, 1817]
The word had been used in Middle English in the literal sense "hooded cloak."
chaperon (v.) Look up chaperon at Dictionary.com
"act as a chaperon," 1792, also chaperone, from chaperon (n.), or from French chaperonner, from chaperon (n.). Related: Chaperoned; chaperoning.
chaplain (n.) Look up chaplain at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "minister of a chapel," from Old French chapelein "clergyman" (Modern French chapelain), from Medieval Latin cappellanus "clergyman," originally "custodian of St. Martin's cloak" (see chapel). Replaced Old English capellane (from the same Medieval Latin source) "clergyman who conducts private religious services," originally in great households, later in military regiments, prisons, etc.
chaplet (n.) Look up chaplet at Dictionary.com
late 14c., from Old French chapelet (Old North French capelet) "garland, rosary," properly "a small hat," diminutive of chape, chapeau "headdress, hood, hat" (see chapeau).