Pronunciation
- IPA: /kupl/[1]
Forms
couple m (plural couples)[1] Old French cuple, cople; masculine (un couple, the pair of persons) and feminine (une couple, the leash; a pair of things), a distinction long hesitant.[2][3][4]
Etymology
It is inherited from Old French cuple, inherited from Latin cōpula (“bond, leash; pair”),[5][2][6][7] which already meant “two persons united by friendship or love” and in imperial Latin “two things together”.[5][2] Latin “copula” is formed from “cum” and “apere” “to fasten” (see apte).[8] The learned copule is a doublet.[1]
Compare Italian coppia, Old Occitan cobla and Catalan cobla.[8][4] English couple (13th century) is from French.[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
The Jeu d'Adam (1146–1170) uses it for the union of a man and a woman: Mal cuple en fist li criatur, the Creator made an ill-matched pair.[5][4]
Semantic evolution
About 1150 it named any pair of persons or things, and in 1789 a male and female animal.[5][2] The feminine une couple was the leash joining two hounds (Chrétien de Troyes, about 1170, Garin: Cueilliez ces coples por ces chiens retenir) and, from about 1230, a pair of things of the same kind, as in Mme de Sévigné's une bonne couple de soufflets; this use survives in dialects and in Canada, where une couple de means “a few”.[5][2][8]
In 1643 couple became a term of shipbuilding, a frame of the hull (whence maître-couple, 1765), and in 1827 of mechanics, two equal and opposite forces (couple moteur, 1905).[5][9][2] The derivatives include couplet (14th century), coupler (about 1173) and accoupler (1165).[6][2]
Timeline
- 1146–1170 – Cuple in the Jeu d'Adam.[5]
- c. 1150 – A pair of persons or things.[5]
- 1165 – Accoupler.[2]
- c. 1170 – Une couple “leash”.[5]
- c. 1230 – Une couple “pair of things”.[5]
- 1643 – A ship's frame.[5]
- 1789 – A pair of animals.[5]
- 1827 – A couple of forces.[9]
Meanings
Noun
- (masculine) A couple: un jeune couple, vivre en couple.[8][1]
- (masculine) A pair (of persons, animals): un couple de danseurs, un couple de pigeons.[10][5]
- (masculine, physics) A couple (of forces); torque: couple moteur.[1][5]
- (masculine, mathematics) An ordered pair.[1]
- (masculine, nautical) A frame (of a hull).[5][2]
- (feminine) A leash for two hounds.[10][1]
- (feminine, regional, Canada) Une couple de: a couple of, a few.[1][2]
Word family
- couplet
- coupler
- accoupler
- couplet
- maître-couple
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
- ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1157b
- ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
- ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Couple.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/couple. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
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