recoup

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman recouper (“to cut short; to recover; to deduct”), also recoper and recolper, a specialized use of the Anglo-Norman and Middle French verb meaning to cut back, reduce, recorded from the 12th century in Old French.^[2][3] Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster derive the English word from French recouper (“to cut back”).^[4][5][6][7] The verb is formed from Old French re- (“back”) and couper (“to cut”), from coup (“a blow”), the source of coup.^[5][4][8][9] In Anglo-Norman it is recorded from 1171–74, already meaning to cut back or curtail, to deduct or retain a sum for oneself, and to recompense or repay.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To cut short (someone's words), to interrupt: about 1450, in the translation of Deguileville's Pilgrimage of the Life of Manhood, "recoupeth here woordes".^[2][10] Barnhart regards this single Middle English use as essentially a different word from the later legal one.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The English verb proper begins as a term of law: from 1628, in Coke's Institutes, it meant to deduct or retain an amount due to oneself.^[2][4][5][6] From 1664 it meant to recompense a person for a loss or outlay,^[2][4][5] then from the early 18th century to reimburse, or reflexively to recover one's own losses.^[2] From 1764 the object could be the loss itself, to make good or recover it,^[2] then from 1868 an amount yielded in return, to make back.^[2] Etymonline has that sense by 1860.^[2][5] Since 1896 it has also meant to regain one's health or strength, to recuperate.^[2] A noun recoup arose in 1704 from a misreading of a law-dictionary gloss, as a quick reply to a peremptory demand; later it meant a deduction (1810–71), and since 1904 it has meant recompense or reimbursement.^[2] In American prison slang to recoup is to start afresh, undeterred, on release.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – to cut short, interrupt (now obsolete).^[2][10]
• 1628 – in law, to deduct or retain an amount due to oneself.^[2][4]
• 1664 – to recompense a person for a loss or outlay.^[2][4]
• before 1715 – to reimburse; reflexively, to recover one's losses.^[2]
• 1764 – to make good or recover a loss or outlay.^[2]
• 1868 – to yield an amount in return, to make back.^[2]
• 1896 – to regain health or strength; to recuperate.^[2]
• 1904 – noun, recompense, reimbursement.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To keep back part of a sum that is due, so as to reduce it; to deduct, especially to reduce a claim by a counterclaim.^[6][2][13]
2. To make good or get back (a loss or expense): The bakery took two years to recoup the cost of its new ovens.^[6][13][2]
3. To compensate or reimburse someone, or oneself, for a loss or outlay.^[6][13][2]
4. To regain (health or strength); to recuperate.^[2]
5. (obsolete, c. 1450) To cut short or interrupt.^[2][10][14]

Noun

1. Recompense or reimbursement; often used attributively.^[2][14]

Word family

• recoupable
• recoupment

Related words

• coup
• coupon
• coppice

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
11. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press