couper

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French coper, colper (“to cut off”), probably, derived from cop (“blow”), colp (modern coup), with its meaning coming from the idea of cutting off with a blow. It may correspond to a Vulgar Latin verb *colpāre, syncopated form of *colaphāre, from Latin colaphus (compare Old Spanish golpar, colpar, Old Galician-Portuguese golpar, golbar). Alternatively, possibly from Vulgar Latin *cuppāre (“to behead”), from Latin caput (“head”), although this is unlikely. Not related to couteau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku.pe/

• audio

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Verb

couper

1. to cut, cut up; to chop, to sever
2. to cut, to clip, to trim

   J’ai besoin de me faire couper les cheveux. ― I need to get my hair cut.

3. to cut off, to keep out, to bar

   couper le cours d’une rivière ― to block the course of a river

4. to take away

   couper le souffle ― to take someone's breath away

   couper l’appétit ― to spoil someone's appetite

   couper l’envie ― to turn someone off, to kill the mood

5. to stop, prevent

   couper quelqu’un dans son élan ― to stop someone in their tracks

6. to dilute, mix

   couper du whisky avec du coca ― to mix whisky with Coke

   L’industrie coupe le lait avec de l’eau pour se faire plus d’argent.

   The industry is diluting milk with water to make more money.

7. to traverse

   Le fleuve de la Garonne coupe une grande partie du sud de la France

   The Garonne river flows through most of southern France.

8. (intransitive, idiomatic) to take a shortcut through something, to cut through

   couper à travers champs ― to cut through fields

9. (reflexive, of leather) to crack

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

• coup

See also

Further reading

• “couper”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• croupe