coup
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coup¹
- /kuː/ UK
- /ku/ US
Sounds like coo · Rhymes with -uː
Where it comes from
Reborrowed in modern times from modern French coup (“blow, strike”), from Old French coup, colp, from Late Latin colpus, from Latin colaphus. Doublet of cope and colpus. The same Old French word had been borrowed into Middle English as coupe, caupe (with different pronunciation).
noun coups
-
A quick, brilliant, and highly successful act.
The conference was a major coup for Robarts, who received congratulations for his 'expert handling' of the 'risky venture.'
Similar: triumph
- Of Native Americans, a blow against an enemy delivered in a way that demonstrates bravery. Among the Blackfeet the capture of a shield, bow, gun, war bonnet, war shirt, or medicine pipe was deemed a coup.
-
A coup d'état.
Military coups and the military regimes which follow from them are so much a feature of third world politics that their presence or absence in any given region might almost be taken as a rough and ready touchstone of third worldliness.
Similar: putsch
- A takeover of one group by another. Liz Truss’s government is in chaos after the chancellor refused to confirm he would bring forward his budget to calm the markets and the home secretary accused fellow MPs of a coup against the prime minister. […] Backbenchers also expressed outrage at [Suella] Braverman’s suggestion of a “coup” agai
- A single roll of the wheel at roulette, or a deal in rouge et noir. After seven coups he had won six times. He lost on the seventh when thirty came up.
- One of various named strategies employed by the declarer to win more tricks, such as the Bath coup.
verb coups · couping · couped
- To execute a coup. The squaws of another race will sing the death-song of their benefactor, and woe to the Sioux if the Northern Cheyennes get a chance to coup !
- To subject (a nation) to a coup d'état. We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.
- To empty out, overturn, or tilt, such as from a cart or wheelbarrow.
coup²
Where it comes from
From Middle English coupen (“to buy; (figuratively) to pay for”), from Old Norse kaupa (“to buy, bargain, barter, exchange”).
verb coups · couping · couped
- To exchange, barter. How that he had been couped from hand to hand, ſometimes kept againſt his will as Captive, ſometimes beſieged, ſometimes brought to battle againſt his will by the Duglaſſes to fight againſt the Earl of Lenox, […]
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: putsch, takeover, revolution, revolutionary, conspiracy, uprising, insurgence, insurgency, rebellion, revolt, job, takedown, rebel, mutiny, rebellious, breakthrough
Translations
Every language
noun quick, brilliant, and highly successful act; triumph
| Deutsch | Coup |
|---|
noun takeover of one group by another
| Español | golpismo |
|---|---|
| Português | golpe |
| Deutsch | Coup |
| Русский | переворо́т perevorót |
Talk about this word "coup." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/coup. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. coup. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/coup "coup." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/coup.Cite this
@misc{coup_2026,
title = {coup},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/coup},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
