[sham-peyn] 
| 1. | level, open country; plain. |
| 2. | Obsolete. a battlefield. |
| 3. | level and open: champaign fields. |
[sham-peyn] | a city in E Illinois, adjoining Urbana. 58,133. |
| cham·paign (shäm-pān') n. A stretch of level and open country; a plain. [Middle English champain, from Old French champainge, from Late Latin campānia; see campaign.] cham·paign' adj. |
| Cham·paign (shām-pān') A city of east-central Illinois adjoining Urbana. Founded in 1855 with the coming of the railroad, it is a commercial and industrial center in a fertile farm area. Population: 73,700. |
Champaign
city, Champaign county, east-central Illinois, U.S. Lying about 135 miles (220 km) southwest of Chicago, it adjoins Urbana (east), with which it shares the main campus of the University of Illinois. The cities are often called Champaign-Urbana. In 1854 Illinois Central Railroad tracks were laid and a depot built 2 miles (3 km) west of Urbana. In 1855 a bill incorporating Urbana included the depot within its limits, but citizens of the depot area fought successfully to remain separate. The settlement around the depot was known as West Urbana, and in 1860 it was renamed for the county (which in 1833 had derived its name from Champaign county, Ohio)
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