coup

coup · noun, verb¹

1. Latin · derived fromcolaphus
2. Late Latin · derived fromcolpus
3. Old French · derived fromcoup, colp
4. French · borrowed fromcoup“blow, strike”
5. English todaycoup

Reborrowed in modern times from modern French coup (“blow, strike”), from Old French coup, colp, from Late Latin colpus, from Latin colaphus. Doublet of cope and colpus. The same Old French word had been borrowed into Middle English as coupe, caupe (with different pronunciation).

coup · verb²

1. Old Norse · derived fromkaupa“to buy, bargain, barter, exchange”
2. Middle English · inherited fromcoupen“to buy; (figuratively) to pay for”
3. English todaycoup

From Middle English coupen (“to buy; (figuratively) to pay for”), from Old Norse kaupa (“to buy, bargain, barter, exchange”).

Words from the same roots