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

Suppose that, on Sept. 30, you could have paid $1 million for a 30-year Treasury bond with a 5.6% coupon, a maturity value of $1 million and a maturity date of Sept. 30, 2056.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

A rise of 100 basis points would imply a total loss of around 1.5%, while a 100 basis point fall could generate a return of nearly 13%, including coupon income, she says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 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

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

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

As she waves her arms in excitement, some of the mail falls out of the pile, and a gigantic Bed Bath and Beyond coupon lands near my foot.

From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan

Nick Earls, 23, of Bellaire, Ohio, said higher gas prices have pushed him to use coupons and buy generic brands when grocery shopping.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

The bond names are abbreviated, and the coupons are also listed in that column.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 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

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 drawer next to the stove was where my mother kept leftover duck sauce, soy sauce, chopsticks, menus, tape, screwdrivers, but most importantly, all her coupons, organized and paper-clipped by product.

From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds

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Related Words

• advertisement
• card
• certificate
• voucher

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