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

But even as she uses coupons, bargain hunts and budgets a weekly menu plan, it's not enough.

From BBC

“That has become a really big source of profits and revenue for grocers dealing more in promotions and deals and coupons.”

From Salon

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

From BBC

She was my grandmother, dragging me to the A&P with an envelope full of coupons in her pocketbook.

From Salon

Related Words

• advertisement
• card
• certificate
• voucher