English
coup
Coup comes from French coup ‘blow, strike’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- ‘to beat’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelh₂-‘to beat’root as named
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκόλαφος‘a buffet, a blow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolaphus‘a blow with the fist’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcolpus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400coup
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcoup‘blow, strike’
- Englishearliest quotation 1892coup
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelh₂-‘to beat’root as named
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκόλαφος‘a buffet, a blow’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolaphus‘a blow with the fist’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcolpus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400coup
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcoup‘blow, strike’
- Englishearliest quotation 1892coup
Earliest quotation: 1892, George Bird Grinnell, The Blackfoot in War: “Among the Blackfeet the capture of a shield, bow,…”
The story
Reborrowed in modern times from modern French coup (‘blow, strike’), from Old French coup, colp, from Late Latin colpus, from Latin colaphus. The same Old French word had been borrowed into Middle English as coupe, caupe (with different pronunciation).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- ‘to beat’
clerk, holly, clergy, holt, cleric, calamity, gladiator, clematis, clade, calamitous, gladiolus, 30 more
through Latin colaphus ‘a blow with the fist’
through Late Latin colpus
Another origin of coup
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaupō‘tradesman’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kaupô‘inkkeeper’uncertain
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kaupōną‘to buy’uncertain
- Old Norsec. 800–1350kaupa‘to buy, bargain, barter, exchange’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coupen‘to buy’
- Englishtodaycoup
Today it means
noun A quick, brilliant, and highly successful act.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- / coup