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beaucoup. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
beaucoup, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
beaucoup in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
beaucoup you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from French beaucoup. Popularized by the American GIs during the Vietnam War.
Pronunciation
Determiner
beaucoup
- (US, informal) Much, many, a lot of.
You know that cost beaucoup bucks!
1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 93:Donlon says, "Well, we're rich and we got beaucoup beer and beaucoup chow. Now all we need is the Bob Hope show."
1987 November 2, Michael Halperin, w:Dorothy Catherine Fontana, “Lonely Among Us”, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), production code 108:Then he'd have to be relieved of command. Which you could do, Doctor, but it's beaucoup trouble if you're wrong.
Noun
beaucoup (plural beaucoups)
- An abundance.
Adverb
beaucoup (not comparable)
- In abundance.
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French biau cop, first attested circa 1210. Equivalent to beau (“nice, beautiful”) + coup (“hit, strike”). The latter word also means “helping of soup or beverage”, first attested circa 1375, whose sense may have triggered or reinforced beaucoup to mean “a lot”.
Pronunciation
Adverb
beaucoup
- much, very much, a lot
- Merci beaucoup! ― Thank you very much!
- Je mange beaucoup. ― I eat a lot.
Related terms
Descendants
See also
References
- ^ Claude Buridant Grammaire nouvelle de l'ancien français, 2000. →ISBN
Further reading