coupon

American  

[koo-pon, kyoo-] / ˈku pɒn, ˈkyu- /

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.

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

• couponless adjective

Etymology

Origin of coupon

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

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

Whether they’re paying just $25 using a coupon with insurance or getting a discounted self-pay price, patients should read the fine print, experts urge.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026

Is the risk worth a $10 coupon or a $50 voucher a company might give participants in a biometrics trial?

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

From there, they either receive a coupon accepted at certain pharmacies or are routed directly to a drug manufacturer’s website to purchase the prescription.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2026

Users can search for the medication they want, then print out a coupon and present it at a pharmacy to buy at the discounted price.

From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026

Then one day, a week before Halloween, I saw it amongst the catalogs and bills and coupon flyers.

From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

Related Words

• advertisement
• card
• certificate
• voucher