couple French · revision 15997

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1146–1170, Jeu d'Adam|origins=la cōpula}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kupl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''couple''' ''m'' (plural couples)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|cuple]], [[m|fro|cople]]; masculine (''un couple'', the pair of persons) and feminine (''une couple'', the leash; a pair of things), a distinction long hesitant.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|cuple]], [[inh|la|cōpula|t=bond, leash; pair]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 1157b) which already meant “two persons united by friendship or love” and in imperial Latin “two things together”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Latin “copula” is formed from “cum” and “apere” “to fasten” (see [[apte]]).^(Petit Robert 2007) The learned [[copule]] is a doublet.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[it|coppia]], [[pro|cobla]] and [[ca|cobla]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) [[en|couple]] (13th century) is from French.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1150 it named any pair of persons or things, and in 1789 a male and female animal.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ 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).^(TLFi)^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992) The derivatives include ''couplet'' (14th century), ''coupler'' (about 1173) and ''accoupler'' (1165).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1146–1170 – ''Cuple'' in the ''Jeu d'Adam''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1150 – A pair of persons or things.^(TLFi)

+ * 1165 – ''Accoupler''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1170 – ''Une couple'' “leash”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1230 – ''Une couple'' “pair of things”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1643 – A ship's frame.^(TLFi)

+ * 1789 – A pair of animals.^(TLFi)

+ * 1827 – A couple of forces.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(masculine)'' A [[m|en|couple]]: ''un jeune couple'', ''vivre en couple''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(masculine)'' A pair (of persons, animals): ''un couple de danseurs'', ''un couple de pigeons''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(masculine, physics)'' A couple (of forces); torque: ''couple moteur''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(masculine, mathematics)'' An ordered pair.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(masculine, nautical)'' A frame (of a hull).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(feminine)'' A leash for two hounds.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(feminine, regional, Canada)'' ''Une couple de'': a couple of, a few.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[couplet]]

+ * [[coupler]]

+ * [[accoupler]]

+ * [[couplet]]

+ * [[maître-couple]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[couplage]]

+ * [[copule]]

+ * [[apte]]

+ * [[la|cōpula]]

+ * [[en|couple]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}