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

It sounds like you used a pharmacy-discount program rather than a manufacturer’s coupon.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 23, 2026

They will increase borrowing costs for the countries that adopt them because creditors will seek compensation for accepting a higher risk of not receiving coupon payments.

From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026

To the delight of die-hard fans and coupon collectors, for a limited time the new stores will accept the chain’s blue and white coupons, no matter how old they are.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 22, 2026

Instead, it used a coupon offering 20% off any item.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026

When we get to the next house, I ring the doorbell but no one answers, so we just leave a coupon and keep going.

From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson

Related Words

• advertisement
• card
• certificate
• voucher