Etymology

count coup

Today it means: To win prestige in battle by performing an act of bravery in the face of the enemy (such as touching him and escaping unharmed), a ritual of the Plains Indians of North America. Full definition →

French coup ← Ancient Greek κόλᾰφος
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκόλᾰφος“a buffet, a blow”
  2. French · derived fromcoup“blow, hit, strike”
  3. English todaycount coup

count + coup (“quick, brilliant, and highly successful act”) (from French coup (“blow, hit, strike”), ultimately from Ancient Greek κόλᾰφος (kólăphos, “a buffet, a blow”)).

Words from the same roots

Frenchcoup all →

coup

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.