Where does “coup” come from?
coup (French) comes from Old French colp, from Latin colpus, from Ancient Greek κόλπος, from Proto-Indo-European kʷelp-, from Proto-Indo-European kʷel- — to turn.
coup (French): blow, hit, strike; fast and instantaneous action;...
Definitions
- blow, hit, strike; fast and instantaneous action;...
Ancestry of “coup”, step by step
coup traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Old French colp
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | colp | strike; hit |
| 2 | Latin | colpus | stroke; strike; hit |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | κόλπος | bosom, lap; a fold in fabric around the bosom;... |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷelp- | to bend; to curve, arch |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷel- | to turn |
via Ancient Greek κόλᾰφος
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ancient Greek | κόλᾰφος | a buffet, a blow |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | *-ϳω | builds a verb stem either from a root or from a nominal. Both the reflex of ϳ and the thematicization, which together constitute this suffix, are omitted in the aorist and perfect stem |
via Old French coup
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | coup | Alternative form of colp |