coupon

American  

[koo-pon, kyoo-] / ˈku pɒn, ˈkju- /

noun

• coupons
  plural

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.

4. Metallurgy. a sample of metal or metalwork submitted to a customer or testing agency for approval.

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coupon British  

/ 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

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Pronunciation

Coupon, related to cope and coup, is of French origin. It has developed an American pronunciation variant 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 is mandatory.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• couponless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• coupons
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of coupon

1815–25; < French; Old French colpon piece cut off, equivalent to colp(er) to cut ( see cope ¹) + -on noun suffix

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Explanation

A coupon is a certificate or a voucher that lets you buy something at a discounted price. When you hand the cashier your coupon, he will subtract some amount from your total bill. You can cut coupons out of a newspaper, get them in the mail, or find them online. A restaurant coupon might offer a free beverage when you buy dinner, and a grocery store coupon could give you a five dollar savings on your dog's favorite kind of kibble. The original coupons were used by Coca Cola in the late 1800s — they were vouchers for a free Coke, and they're credited with spreading the soft drink's popularity across the United States.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coupon coupons

Customers with purchases of $40 or more received a $10-off coupon featuring Oreo’s face.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

“I’m, like, if you’ve got a coupon, now’s the time to use it,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

To be sure, investors today are receiving higher coupon payments on newly issued bonds than they have in decades.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

People in this country will buy damn near anything — especially if there’s an electronic coupon involved.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

Rummaging in my pocket, I fished out the coupon I’d gotten for winning an essay contest before winter break and handed it over.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

But with this particular ETF, missed coupons may be recouped should the reference asset climb back above the barrier, Staudt noted.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

You should sit back like I’m sitting back and clip coupons because the stock is going to be $150 a share’.’”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

The problem is that if the Fed lets underlying inflation rise, this will end up hurting longer-term bonds, because the real inflation-adjusted value of future coupons will fall.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

The chain’s once-ubiquitous blue-and-white coupons are worth something again.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

She brings it inside, with the coupons for Papa Murphy’s and QFC and the Puget Sound Energy bill.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

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Related Words

• advertisement
• card
• certificate
• voucher

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