Camping: Sleeping Outdoors on Purpose
Camping is staying outdoors overnight in a tent or similar shelter. The word covers everything from a bivouac on a mountain to a caravan with mains electricity.
Camping is spending a night or more outdoors in temporary shelter, by choice. The word stretches a long way: a soldier's bivouac and a family caravan with a fridge are both camping, which is why enthusiasts argue about it so much.
- Staying outdoors overnight. *We went camping in the Lake District.*
- The activity as a pastime. *Camping is cheaper than hotels.*
- Occupying a fixed spot (gaming, informal). *Camping the spawn point.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | camping | A camping trip. |
| Verb | camp | They camped by the river. |
| Person | camper | An experienced camper. |
| Place | campsite | A quiet campsite. |
| Compound | campfire | Round the campfire. |
How it is used in a sentence
- We are going camping next weekend.Go camping, without an article.
- Wild camping is restricted in England and Wales.Camping outside a licensed site, legal in much of Scotland.
- The campsite has showers and a shop.Campground in American English.
Kinds of camping
- Wild camping — pitching outside any organised site
- Backpacking — carrying everything on foot between camps
- Car camping — driving to a pitch with heavy kit
- Glamping — comfortable camping in a prepared structure
- Bivouacking — sleeping with minimal shelter, often unplanned
From *camp*, from Latin *campus*, a field, by way of French. The military sense came first — an army's field of tents — and the recreational sense grew in the nineteenth century as railways brought the countryside within reach.
Campsite or campground?
Campsite in British English, campground in American. Site can also mean a single pitch, which occasionally confuses bookings.
What is glamping?
A blend of glamorous and camping, for accommodation such as yurts and cabins with beds and often electricity.