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[French, from Old French colpon, piece cut off, from colper, to cut, from colp, blow. See coup.]
Word History: A Roman might have had difficulty predicting what would become of the Latin word colaphus, which meant “a blow with the fist.” In Old French, a language that developed from Latin, the Late Latin word colpus, derived from colaphus, became colp, or modern French coup, with the same sense. Coup has had a rich development in French, gaining numerous senses, participating in numerous phrases, such as coup d'état,) and giving rise to many derivatives, including couper, “to divide with a blow or stroke, to cut.” Couper yielded the word coupon, “a portion that is cut off,” which came to refer to a certificate that was detachable from a principal certificate. The detachable certificate could be exchanged for interest or dividend payments by the holder of the principal certificate. Coupon is first recorded in English in 1822 with this sense and then came to apply to forms or tickets, detachable or otherwise, that could be exchanged for various benefits or used to request information.