Etymologically
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coach

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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
  • 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