coupon

[ koo-pon, kyoo- ]

noun

1. a portion of a certificate, ticket, label, advertisement, or the like, set off from the main body by dotted lines or the like to emphasize its separability, entitling the holder to something, as a gift or discount, or for use as an order blank, a contest entry form, etc.
2. a separate certificate, ticket, etc., for the same purpose.
3. Finance. one of a number of small detachable certificates calling for periodic interest payments on a bearer bond. Compare coupon bond.
4. Metallurgy. a sample of metal or metalwork submitted to a customer or testing agency for approval.

coupon

/ ˈkuːpɒn /

noun

1. 1. a detachable part of a ticket or advertisement entitling the holder to a discount, free gift, etc
   2. a detachable slip usable as a commercial order form
   3. a voucher given away with certain goods, a certain number of which are exchangeable for goods offered by the manufacturers
2. one of a number of detachable certificates attached to a bond, esp a bearer bond, the surrender of which entitles the bearer to receive interest payments
3. one of several detachable cards used for making hire-purchase payments
4. a ticket issued to facilitate rationing
5. a detachable entry form for any of certain competitions, esp football pools

Pronunciation Note

Coupon, related to cope and coup, is of French origin. It has developed an American pronunciation variant [kyoo, -pon] with an unhistorical y -sound not justified by the spelling. This pronunciation is used by educated speakers and is well-established as perfectly standard, although it is sometimes criticized. Its development may have been encouraged by analogy with words like curious, cupid, and cute, where c is followed by a “long u ” and the [y] is mandatory.

Other Words From

• coupon·less adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of coupon¹

1815–25; < French; Old French colpon piece cut off, equivalent to colp(er) to cut ( cope ¹ ) + -on noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of coupon¹

C19: from French, from Old French colpon piece cut off, from colper to cut, variant of couper; see cope ¹

Example Sentences

I kept her account private, and, since she wasn’t political, had her follow and engage with content that had nothing to do with politics - coupon pages, dance videos, community groups and other Spanish-language content.

From BBC

There was some scrapping and scraping; what wasn't covered by grants and scholarships I got in loans at reasonable interest rates, and I even looked forward to the monthly ritual of carefully tearing out a paper coupon from a book, writing a check and counting how many more pages until I was debt-free in my mid-20s.

From Salon

Bookmakers started refusing to take wagers on some teams, scrubbing them off the coupon.

From BBC

As reporters turned to leave, the cashier handed over a printed flier with a coupon for mushroom products:

From Los Angeles Times

That potentially means rethinking who their customer base is; rather than “everyone with a coupon code,” it might be time-strapped families who need more flexible options for picky eaters, neurodivergent cooks who value really clear step-by-step recipes and pre-measured ingredients, or working professionals who will pay for a higher-priced meal-kit if it comes with luxury or non-traditional ingredients.

From Salon

Related Words

• advertisement
• card
• certificate
• voucher