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

Use coupons whenever possible, but skip the protection plans.

From Washington Post

According to the 2020 Valassis Consumer Intel Report, 60% of customers claim that coupons lead them to try new products while 53% admit that coupons can make them choose a brand they would typically not patronize.

From Search Engine Watch

You could send them coupons for 10% off of their order of $150 to encourage them to spend more, which would ideally boost your open rates as well as your main KPI.

From Search Engine Land

Imagine you’re a restaurant owner and you want to hand out coupons in order to get people to come to your restaurant.

From Freakonomics

You can find out more here and make the most of the offer using the coupon code provided in the link.

From Search Engine Watch

And tipped on the value of the coupon, enraging watiers and masseuses.

From The Daily Beast

All three companies lost money the month they offered the coupon and will have difficulty earning it back.

From The Daily Beast

But rarely in her thousands of interviews has the reality TV maven-turned failed coupon blogger spoken about politics.

From The Daily Beast

The reality show about a 6-year-old pageant queen and her gassy, coupon-hoarding family has been both popular and controversial.

From The Daily Beast

Dining on a deal does not a coupon-clipper make: it's par for even the most expensive palates these days.

From The Daily Beast

All you risk is a 2¢ stamp—so grab your pencil and shoot me the coupon right now.

From Project Gutenberg

Mail the Coupon before it's too late to protect yourself against the chances of fate picking you out as its next victim.

From Project Gutenberg

If you will mail the coupon below, this Anatomical and Physiological Chart will be mailed to you without one cent of expense.

From Project Gutenberg

One lot of bonds was received with every coupon attached, yet the interest on these had been paid regularly in New York.

From Project Gutenberg

This paper will cost you 10 cents a number, and with each number you get a coupon.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• advertisement
• card
• certificate
• voucher