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

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

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

Investors get a coupon payment that helps offset the decline in value the bond might experience if market yields rise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 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

An ETF might then reinvest the returned capital into a new autocallable contract, with new terms that could include a smaller coupon.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

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

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

A smiling Chuck E. Cheese mouse stared at me from a printed coupon, offering me a two-dollar discount on any large pizza and a hundred tokens for twenty-five dollars.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan

The loss to principal would be offset by any monthly coupons received prior to maturity, but there are some twists to consider.

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

This year, however, I gave it a chance and found that the coupons inside could actually be useful.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

The so-called “wizard of finance” had promised clients a 50% return on their money in 45 days in an investment strategy involving international postal reply coupons.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Bep and Miep went grocery shopping with our ration coupons, Father worked on our blackout screens, we scrubbed the kitchen floor, and were once again busy from sunup to sundown.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

Related Words

• advertisement
• card
• certificate
• voucher