Where does “couple” come from?
couple (Middle English) comes from Old French couple, from Vulgar Latin copla, from Latin cōpula, from Latin coapula, from Latin apio, from Latin apium, from Latin Apis, from Ancient Greek Ἄπις — the god Apis.
couple (Middle English): A couple; two people joined by a marital union or...
Definitions
- A couple; two people joined by a marital union or...
Ancestry of “couple”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | couple | couple; sexual liaison |
| 2 | Vulgar Latin | copla | — |
| 3 | Latin | cōpula | a bond, tie, band or other connecting item |
| 4 | Latin | coapula | — |
| 5 | Latin | apio | dative singular of apium; ablative singular of... |
| 6 | Latin | apium | parsley; celery; genitive plural of apis |
| 7 | Latin | Apis | A seaport town of Egypt situated at the borders with Marmarica |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | Ἄπις | — |
| 9 | Coptic | ϩⲁⲡⲉ | the Apis bull, a bull worshipped as a herald of the gods (first Ptah, then Osiris, then Atum) |
| 10 | Egyptian | ḥp | the god Apis |