English
couple
Couple comes from Middle English couple ‘a couple’, from Latin cōpula ‘a bond, tie, band or other connecting item’, and ultimately from apiō ‘to join’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEapiō‘to join’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōpula‘a bond’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400couple‘couple’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a couple’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEapiō‘to join’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōpula‘a bond’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400couple‘couple’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a couple’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “I’ll keep my stables where / I lodge my…”
Linked words
through Latin apiō ‘to join’
adaptation, adapt, adept, copulate, 16 more
through Latin cōpula ‘a bond, tie, band or other connecting item’
Today it means
noun Two of the same kind connected or considered together.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin apiō / couple