couple

English Online Dictionary. What means couple‎? What does couple mean?

English

Alternative forms

• copel (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌpəl/
• Rhymes: -ʌpəl

Noun

couple (plural couples)

2. Two of the same kind connected or considered together.
3. Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.
5. (informal) A small number.

   Coordinate term: handful
6. One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.
7. (physics) A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
8. (architecture) A couple-close.
9. That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.

Usage notes

• A traditional and still broadly accepted usage of couple is as a noun followed by "of" to mean "two", as in "a couple of people". In this usage, "a couple of" is equivalent to "a pair of".

• The very widespread use of the same expression (e.g. "a couple of people") to mean any small number is often considered informal but is in fact very old and often considered unobjectionable on all levels of style, sometimes even contradictorily by the same publication that labels this use as informal elsewhere on the same page, e.g. The American Heritage Dictionary.

  The farm is a couple of miles off the main highway [= a few miles away].

  We’re going out to a restaurant with a couple of friends [= a few friends].

  Wait a couple of minutes [= a few minutes].

• Couple or a couple is also used informally and formally as an adjective or determiner (see definition below) to mean "a few", in which case it is not followed by "of", although many usage manuals advise against this widespread use. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary points out that this use before a word indicating degree is standard in both US and UK English (e.g. "a couple more examples"), though in the UK, it is chiefly limited to pronouns indicating degree (e.g. "put a couple more in"). However, its use before an ordinary plural noun is generally considered North American, which the dictionary explains is "common in speech and in writing that is not meant to be formal or elevated". This use is especially frequent with numbers, time, and other measurements, such as "a couple hundred", "a couple minutes", and "a couple dozen".

Synonyms

• (two partners): twosome
• (two things of the same kind): brace, pair; see also Thesaurus:duo
• (a small number of): few, handful

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

couple (not comparable)

1. (informal, US, Canada) Two or (a) small number of.

Determiner

couple

1. (colloquial, US, Canada) Two or a few, a small number of.

   Coordinate terms: a few, several, various

Verb

couple (third-person singular simple present couples, present participle coupling, simple past and past participle coupled)

1. (transitive) To join (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another).
2. (transitive, dated) To join in wedlock; to marry.
3. (intransitive) To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.
4. (transitive) To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.
5. (horse racing, transitive) To enter (multiple horses with the same owner) into a race so that a single bet can be placed on any of them winning.

Synonyms

• (to join together): affix, attach, put together; see also Thesaurus:join
• (to join in wedlock): bewed, espouse; see also Thesaurus:marry
• (to join in sexual intercourse): have sex, make love; see also Thesaurus:copulate

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• culpeo

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French couple, from Vulgar Latin *cōpla, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kupl/

Noun

couple m (plural couples)

1. two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship

   Jean et Amélie forment un joli couple. ― Jean and Amélie make a cute couple.

2. (physics) a force couple; a pure moment
3. (mathematics) an ordered pair

Noun

couple f (plural couples)

1. (animal husbandry) an accessory used to tightly attach two animals next to each other by the neck
2. (regional) a pair of something
3. (North America) a couple of something, not to be mistaken as a few

Related terms

• couplage
• coupler

Further reading

• “couple”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• copule, copulé

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula.

Alternative forms

• copill, cople, copull, coupull, cowpulle, cupil, cuple, cupple

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkupəl/, /ˈkuplə/, /ˈkuː-/

Noun

couple (plural couples or couple)

1. A group of two (especially living beings; never three or more as in modern English):
   1. A couple; two people joined in marriage.
   2. A breeding pair; two animals to be bred with each other.
2. A lead or tie linked to two dogs to restrain them.
3. A unit of measure for (especially dried) fruits.
4. (architecture) One of two opposing roof beams (or the two as a pair)
5. (rare) Sexual intercourse; the act of sex.

Derived terms

• couplen
• couplynge

Descendants

• English: couple
• Scots: couple, kipple

References

• “cǒuple, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-06.

Etymology 2

Verb

couple

1. alternative form of couplen

Old French

Alternative forms

• cople, cuple

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *copla, from Latin cōpula.

Noun

couple oblique singular, f (oblique plural couples, nominative singular couple, nominative plural couples)

1. couple (two things)
2. sexual liaison

Usage notes

• Occasionally used as a masculine noun (le couple)

Descendants