English word origin

Etymology of chump

Origin uncertain; probably a blend of chunk and lump or stump, or perhaps a nasalised variant of chub (“someone chubby, something thick”). Compare Icelandic kubbur (“block of wood, chip (computing)”), Old Norse kumbr for

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

verb

To treat (someone) as a chump; to defraud or swindle (someone).

noun

An incompetent person, a blockhead; a loser. · A gullible person; a sucker; someone easily taken advantage of; someone lacking common sense. · The thick end, especially of a piece of wood or of a joint of meat. · A person's head or face.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Cognate mentionkubburis
Cognate mentionkumbrnon
Cognate mentionchopen

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "unk",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "title": "uncertain"
      },
      "expansion": "uncertain"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "kubbur",
        "3": "",
        "4": "block of wood, chip (computing)"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic kubbur (“block of wood, chip (computing)”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "kumbr"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse kumbr"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "chop"
      },
      "expansion": "English chop"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "chunk",
      "chunk#English"
    ],
    [
      "lump",
      "lump#English"
    ],
    [
      "stump",
      "stump#English"
    ],
    [
      "chub",
      "chub#English"
    ],
    [
      "kubbur",
      "kubbur#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "kumbr",
      "kumbr#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "kubbr",
      "kubbr#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "chop",
      "chop#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To treat (someone) as a chump; to defraud or swindle (someone)."
      ],
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        "slang",
        "transitive"
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    },
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An incompetent person, a blockhead; a loser.",
        "A gullible person; a sucker; someone easily taken advantage of; someone lacking common sense.",
        "The thick end, especially of a piece of wood or of a joint of meat.",
        "A person's head or face."
      ],
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        "derogatory",
        "UK",
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      ],
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

verb

Dated form of chomp.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Variant of chomp, itself a variant of champ (“to bite”). More at champ.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "links": [
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      "champ",
      "champ#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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        "Dated form of chomp."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for chump →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-Y2h1bXA