English
couplet
Couplet comes from French couple ‘a force 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, tie, band or other connecting item’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*cōplareconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400couple‘couple (two things)’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘a force couple’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentcouplet
- Englishearliest quotation 2001same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEapiō‘to join’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōpula‘a bond, tie, band or other connecting item’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*cōplareconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400couple‘couple (two things)’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘a force couple’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentcouplet
- Englishearliest quotation 2001same form
Earliest quotation: 2001, Stephen T. Ross, The Inland Fishes of Mississippi: “The dichotomous keys are constructed so that each couplet…”
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 A pair of lines, typically with rhyming end words.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin apiō / couplet