coupe (n.)
1834, "low, short, four-wheeled, close carriage without the front seat, carrying two inside, with an outside seat for the driver," also "front compartment of a stage coach," from French coupe (18c.), short for carrosse coupe "cut-off carriage," a shorter version of the Berlin, minus the back seat, from couper "to cut (in half);" see coup. Applied to closed two-door automobiles by 1897. Coup de ville is from 1931, originally a car with an open driver's position and an enclosed passenger compartment.
Entries linking to coupe
c. 1400, "a blow" (obsolete), from Old French coup, colp "a blow, strike" (12c.), from Medieval Latin colpus, from Vulgar Latin *colapus, from Latin colaphus "a cuff, box on the ear," from Greek kolaphos "a blow, buffet, punch, slap," "a lowly word without clear etymology" [Beekes].
Meaning "a sudden decisive act" is 1852, short for coup d'etat. In Modern French the word is a workhorse, describing everything from a pat on the back to a whipping, and is used as well of thunder, gusts of wind, gunshots, and chess moves.
by 1849, one- or two-horse closed carriage with two or four wheels, for two or four persons, named for first Lord Brougham (1778-1868), Scottish jurist and reformer, who had one built for himself c. 1839. The family name is from a place in Westmoreland. In 19c. often synonymous with coupe.
updated on April 17, 2018
Dictionary entries near coupe
county
coup
coup d'etat
coup de foudre
coup de grace
coupe
couple
couplet
coupling
coupon
courage
