coach

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəʊt͡ʃ/ (UK); /koʊt͡ʃ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French coche,^[2][3][4][5] from German Kotsche (now Kutsche),^[2][3][4][5] from Hungarian kocsi,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} short for kocsi szekér “cart of Kocs”, a town in northern Hungary where such carriages were first made.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

A large four-wheeled covered carriage, in the 16th and 17th centuries usually the state carriage of royalty or people of rank (1556).^[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Vehicles were often named after the place where they were invented or first used.^[4] From the carriage the word passed to railway passenger cars (1832),^[7][4] to single-decker buses (1923),^[7] and to economy class on aircraft (1949).^[7][4] At Oxford around 1830 a coach was a private tutor who “carried” a student through an examination;^[4][3][6] from 1861 it was used for a sports trainer.^[3][4] The verb first meant to convey in a coach (1612), and to tutor or train from 1849.^[7][3][4]

Timeline

• 1556 – a large carriage.^[7][3][5]
• 1612 – verb, to convey in a coach.^[7][3]
• 1832 – a railway carriage.^[7]
• 1848 – a private tutor (university use).^[3][7]
• 1849 – verb, to tutor or train.^[7][3][4]
• 1861 – an athletic trainer.^[3][4]
• 1923 – a single-decker bus.^[7]
• 1949 – economy class on aircraft.^[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who trains athletes or a team.
2. A person who gives instruction, as in singing or acting, or a private tutor.
3. A bus, especially one for long-distance or private hire.
4. A railway passenger car.
5. A large, closed, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage.
6. The cheaper class of seats on an aircraft or train.

Verb

1. To train, instruct or tutor.
2. To travel or convey in a coach.

Word family

• coachable
• coacher
• coachability
• coachman
• coachwork
• slowcoach
• stagecoach

Related words

• landau
• berlin

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press