Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Couple |
CoupleNoun1. A small indefinite number; "he's coming for a couple of days". 2. A pair of people who live together; "a married couple from Chicago". 3. A pair who associate with one another; "the engaged couple"; "an inseparable twosome". 4. Two items of the same kind. 5. Something joined by two equal and opposite forces that act along parallel lines. Verb1. Bring two objects, ideas, or people together; "This fact is coupled to the other one"; "Matchmaker, can you match my daughter with a nice young man?"; "The student was paired with a partner for collaboration on the project". 2. Link together. 3. Form a pair or pairs; "The two old friends paired off". 4. Make love; "Birds mate in the Spring". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "couple" was first used: sometime around 1280. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Electrical Engineering | A)an element of a storage cell consisting of two plates, one positive and one negative; b)a positive and a negative plate connected together as one unit for installation in adjacent cells. Source: European Union. (references) |
| To connect two circuits so signals are transferred from one to the other. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Mechanical Engineering | To operate a clutch so as to interlock its two members and thus start motion. Source: European Union. (references) |
Occupations | A term used for designating two jobs or positions found in the same environment or industry where two persons are required to perform duties. The workers are usually furnished board and room or lodging in addition to remuneration for services performed. Classifications are made according to specific duties performed by each worker, such as BUTLER (domestic ser.) and COOK (domestic ser.) or where both workers participate in performing overall duties, such as maintenance, housekeeping, and managing as MANAGER, MOTEL (hotel & rest.); MANAGER, TOURIST CAMP (hotel & rest.); MANAGER, TRAILER PARK (hotel & rest.); or as MAINTENANCE REPAIRER, BUILDING (any industry). (references) |
Physics | A system of equal and parallel(i. e. non-collinear)forces acting in opposite directions, as e. g. on an eccentrically loaded column or a loaded beam. Source: European Union. (references) |
Tips from 1870 | Usage: Couple, Several. The word couple is often incorrectly used in the sense of several; as, a couple of horses, mules, birds, trees, houses, etc. The use of the word couple is not only limited to two, but to two that may be coupled or yoked together. A man and wife are spoken of as a couple. We speak of a span of horses, a yoke of oxen, a brace of ducks, a pair of gloves. Usage: Pair, Couple, Brace. After numerals, the singular form of such words as these is generally employed; as, five pair of gloves, eight couple of dancers, three brace of pigeons, five dozen of eggs, four score years, twenty sail of ships, fifty head of cattle, six hundred of these men, two thousand of these cattle, etc. After such indefinite adjectives as few, many, several, some of the above words take the plural form; as, several hundreds, many thousands. Source: Slips of Speech. |
Transportation | To link vehicles to form a train. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: CoupleSynonyms: brace (n), couplet (n), distich (n), doubleton (n), duad (n), duet (n), duo (n), dyad (n), mates (n), pair (n), span (n), twain (n), twosome (n), yoke (n), copulate (v), couple on (v), couple up (v), match (v), mate (v), pair off (v), partner off (v), twin (v). (additional references) |
| Synonym by domain: throw-in (mechanical engineering). |
| Antonym: uncouple (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Accompaniment | Verb: pair, couple, bracket, yoke; conduplicate; mate, span. |
Verb: accompany, coexist, attend; hang on, wait on; go hand in hand with; synchronize; bear company, keep company; row in the same boat; bring in its train; associate with, couple with. | |
Noun: duality, dualism; duplicity; biplicity, biformity; polarity. two, deuce, couple, duet, brace, pair, cheeks, twins, Castor and Pollux, gemini, Siamese twins; fellows; yoke, conjugation; dispermy, doublets, dyad, span. | |
Junction | Attach, fix, affix, saddle on, fasten, bind, secure, clinch, twist, make fast; Adjective: tie, pinion, string, strap, sew, lace, tat, tack, knit, button, buckle, hitch, lash, truss, bandage, braid, splice, swathe, gird, tether, moor, picket, harness, chain; fetter; (restrain); lock, latch, belay, brace, hook, grapple, leash, couple, accouple, link, yoke, bracket; marry; (wed); bridge over, span. |
Marriage | Marry, join, handfast; couple; (unit); tie the nuptial knot; give away, give away in marriage; seal; ally, affiance; betroth; (promise); publish the banns, bid the banns; be asked in church. |
Bridesmaid, bridesman, best man; bride, bridegroom. married man, married woman, married couple; neogamist, Benedict, partner, spouse, mate, yokemate; husband, man, consort, baron; old man, good man; wife of one's bosom; helpmate, rib, better half, gray mare, old woman, old lady, good wife, goodwife. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | We had a nice couple of minutes together (The American President; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin.) A dallying couple, a passing sheep-rapist (Sleuth; writing credit: Anthony Shaffer) It must be hard living your life off a couple of scraps of paper (Memento; writing credit: Bo Goldman; Lawrence Hauben) tuna fish on white bread with mayonnaise, a Tab, and a couple of Twinkies (The Jerk; writing credit: Carl Reiner, written by Steve Martin and Carl Gottlieb.) You wanna hear something really nutty? I heard of a couple guys who wanna build something called an airplane, you know you get people to go in, and fly around like birds, it's ridiculous, right (Contact; writing credit: Carl Sagan;) | |
Lyrics | Couple of fools run wild aren't we (Mad About You; performing artist: Belinda Carlisle) A couple of dem thangs for your girl to rock (That's What I'm Looking For; performing artist: Da Brat) It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; performing artist: Elton John) Grab a couple grand and lamp in Iceland (Murder Murder (Remix) *; performing artist: Eminem) I stroked the fattest dimes at least a couple of times (What It's Like; performing artist: Everlast) | |
Clever | Enfields Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide (references; author: unknown) If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Parmi tant d'autres... mais si pervers Un couple (1974) L' Amour du couple (1973) The Couple Takes a Wife (1972) A Couple of Beauties (1971) The Odd Couple (1970) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | A black couple is shown in the kitchen. The man is cutting red meat into small pieces; the woman is cutting chicken. See artwork: PV-44. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |  | A couple with their limit of "reds". Credit: Fisheries. |
 | Couple enjoy cherry blossoms with Washington Monument in the background. Credit: USDA. |  | Couple overlooks tidal basin and Jefferson Memorial at cherry blossom time. Credit: USDA. |
 | Microbiologist Rodney Bothast adjusts a laboratory fermenter that uses glycerol from vegetable oil. After fermentation and a couple of intermediate steps, the glycerol becomes acrylic acid that can be used to make plastic goods. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Keith Weller.. |  | Pioneer couple (Pioneer re-enactors.). Credit: BLM Staff. |
 | Rebecca Crow and Brandon Kames portray a pioneer couple at a wagon encampment. Credit: John Craig. |  | Illiamna Couple. Credit: Alaska Historical Image Library. |
 | A couple try an interactive station at the National Eye Institute's traveling exhibit, VISION. Credit: National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. |  | Preparativos comunitarios para casos de desastre [green: old couple & child] ¿Que hacer... Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Couple on Beach" by Nita H Commentary: "A beach with a couple walking along on the far right side." | "A couple" by Bas V.d Eykhof Commentary: "I really like this photo becuase i kinda symbolizes that relatinships that are built right can last even though things around fall apart." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Dennis Miller | Hell, the vows are scary enough. I mean, "We are gathered here to witness the joining of two people ..." Joining. Could we come up with a slightly more industrial term, huh? How about "soldering"? Yeah, have a couple of guys from the machinists' union swing by, drop the welder's masks, and handle this part of the ceremony? You know, it seems like the only twotimes they pronounce you anything in life is when they pronounce you "man and wife" or "dead on arrival." |
Gillian Anderson | Fame is complicated and definitely overrated. There are perks to it that are unfathomable. But the other aspect is there's little to no privacy at all—being anywhere at any time and knowing that somebody you cannot see is probably taking a picture of you, which has happened hundred of times. I look around and cannot see anyone and a couple of weeks later I see a photo of me looking around. |
Henry Fielding | One fool at least in every married couple. |
John Steinbeck | Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. |
Oliver Wendell Holmes | Several years before birth, advertise for a couple of parents belonging to long-lived families. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Roe v. Wade | 1973 | A childless married couple (the Does), the wife not being pregnant, separately attacked the laws, basing alleged injury on the future possibilities of contraceptive failure, pregnancy, unpreparedness for parenthood, and impairment of the wife's health. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | It was no wonder that a train of twenty young couple now walked after her to church |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Others blaspheme so far as to couple the scaffold of Louis XVI. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | They can do it in a couple days |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | However, the mite dies in a couple of days and does not reproduce. (references) | |
No one knows what puts a couple at risk for conceiving an XXY child. (references) | ||
In a couple of small trials scientists have tested a similar vaccine in humans. (references) | ||
Business | Polish shipyards hold good portfolios of orders for the next couple of years. (references) | |
However, what is new is the rather high sector activity taking place in the last couple of years due to the national healthcare reforms. (references) | ||
Following are just a couple of the sites (these sites were found by "search" command and CS Japan does not endorse any of these agents). (references) | ||
Children | China | If doctors find that a couple is at risk of transmitting disabling congenital defects to their children, the couple may marry only if they agree to use birth control or undergo sterilization. (references) |
Civil Liberties | Tunisia | Marriages of Muslim women to non-Muslim men abroad are considered common-law, which are prohibited and thus void when the couple returns to the country. (references) |
Iraq | Some sources indicated that KDP forces reportedly reentered one of the villages a couple of days later, rounded up the villagers, and publicly beat two of them. (references) | |
Economic History | Lithuania | The first supermarkets were opened a couple of years ago. (references) |
Brazil | Brazil has expanded cotton production for the past couple of years. (references) | |
Haiti | This industry has been relatively stable for the last couple of years. (references) | |
Human Rights | Cyprus | One such marriage took place in 2000, and the couple moved to the north. (references) |
Cyprus | Another took place in September; that couple was awaiting permission to move back north at year's end. (references) | |
Congo | On November 30, four soldiers in an unmarked vehicle followed a Belgian couple to their home in the Binza neighborhood of Kinshasa. (references) | |
Minorities | Jordan | Interfaith relationships may lead to ostracism and, in some cases, violence against the couple or feuds between members of the couple's families. (references) |
Israel and the occupied territories | In March 2000, the High Court ruled on an October 1995 petition brought by an Arab couple who were barred from buying a home in Katzir, a Jewish municipality that was built on state-owned land. (references) | |
India | In Uttar Pradesh on August 6, a young couple, a Brahmin boy and a Jat (lower caste) girl, were hanged publicly by their own families in front of most of the village as punishment for refusing to break off a cross-caste relationship. (references) | |
Political Economy | India | Although, the coalition has had walk-outs by a couple of allies, the government continues to remain stable in the absence of any credible alternative. (references) |
Travel | Uruguay | A couple of five-star category hotels in Montevideo have been recently inaugurated or renovated. (references) |
Women | Swaziland | Traditional marriages consider children to belong to the father and to his family if the couple divorces. (references) |
Worker Rights | France | In May a court sentenced and fined another couple for enslaving a young Indian woman. (references) |
Albania | On October 21, police arrested a couple suspected of having trafficked 12 minors to Italy for use as beggars. (references) | |
Albania | The couple has been charged with trafficking children; their case was sent to court but remained pending at year's end. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | CARMELITE, n. A mendicant friar of the order of Mount Carmel. As Death was a-rising out one day, Across Mount Camel he took his way, Where he met a mendicant monk, Some three or four quarters drunk, With a holy leer and a pious grin, Ragged and fat and as saucy as sin, Who held out his hands and cried: "Give, give in Charity's name, I pray. Give in the name of the Church. O give, Give that her holy sons may live!" And Death replied, Smiling long and wide: "I'll give, holy father, I'll give thee -- a ride." With a rattle and bang Of his bones, he sprang From his famous Pale Horse, with his spear; By the neck and the foot Seized the fellow, and put Him astride with his face to the rear. The Monarch laughed loud with a sound that fell Like clods on the coffin's sounding shell: "Ho, ho! A beggar on horseback, they say, Will ride to the devil!" -- and thump Fell the flat of his dart on the rump Of the charger, which galloped away. Faster and faster and faster it flew, Till the rocks and the flocks and the trees that grew By the road were dim and blended and blue To the wild, wild eyes Of the rider -- in size Resembling a couple of blackberry pies. Death laughed again, as a tomb might laugh At a burial service spoiled, And the mourners' intentions foiled By the body erecting Its head and objecting To further proceedings in its behalf. Many a year and many a day Have passed since these events away. The monk has long been a dusty corse, And Death has never recovered his horse. For the friar got hold of its tail, And steered it within the pale Of the monastery gray, Where the beast was stabled and fed With barley and oil and bread Till fatter it grew than the fattest friar, And so in due course was appointed Prior. G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Dominick Dunne | Listen, I'm not going to forget Chandra Levy. I mean, you know, I feel so sorry for Dr. and Mrs. Levy, with whom I've spoken on several occasions, a wonderful couple. And yeah, I'm not going to let go of this. I mean, I don't think we should forget this. |
Earl Charles Spencer | Well, I think in fact there were a couple of girlfriends in between. And it wasn't an issue. It wasn't like Diana had stolen her eldest sister's boyfriend or anything. |
Joe Viterelli | Oh, well, I had a couple of beer joints that I sold in New York and I came out here and I was looking around. |
John Kerry | Some of them to my best friends, literally my best friend at college, a couple of my best friends in Vietnam, and high school friends. They're there. And I go down and visit. I think we all do. |
Judy Collins | I do. I have a couple of books on the way. And, fortunately, I can write on the airplanes when I'm traveling. |
Linda Thompson | Met Priscilla. But only a couple of times. Priscilla was really not on the scene as much as people might assume. |
Mary Tyler Moore | Right. We changed the sex of a couple of the key players because there was a flirtatious bit of tomfoolery between me and the nurse. And in Tom's play, it had been a woman. In my play, it became a man. |
Mitch Daniels | Let's see what direction the debate takes. We did not believe those were relatively as effective as the proposals in the package, which passed one body and got within a couple yards of the goal line in the Senate, in fact had the votes to pass. |
Tim McGraw | Probably not as much as she's been a housewife when I've been out working. It's never more than a couple days if we have to do it. |
Tip O'Neill | Just in February of last year, not this year, last year. And I go back every month and we've got couple of great doctors up there. And they've been giving me chemo and they've got them under control. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | I looked over a couple of blocks, and there was the Internal Revenue Service--bigger than I ever remembered it. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | I'd like to talk about a couple of other issues we have to deal with. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Couple" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.32% of the time. "Couple" is used about 12,273 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.32% | 12,189 | 756 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 0.38% | 47 | 49,740 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 0.3% | 37 | 56,631 |
| Total | 100.00% | 12,273 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "couple": a couple of ♦ a couple of minutes ♦ a couple of oxen ♦ bridal couple ♦ childless couple ♦ couple MAREL ♦ couple of days ♦ couple of hours ♦ couple of weeks ♦ couple on ♦ couple skating ♦ couple to ♦ couple up ♦ couple with ♦ courting couple ♦ driving couple ♦ electrolytic couple ♦ engaged couple ♦ galvanic couple ♦ inertial couple ♦ infertile couple ♦ just a couple of words ♦ Leverage of a couple ♦ Main couple ♦ married couple ♦ moment of a couple ♦ perfect couple ♦ royal couple ♦ the engaged couple ♦ the young couple ♦ thermoelectric couple ♦ to couple ♦ to couple windows ♦ voltaic couple. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "couple": Couple-beggar, Couple-close, Couple-closes, couple-headed, couple-loneliness. | |
Ending with "couple": a-couple, c-couple, married-couple, soft-couple. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
sex couple | 3,765 | couple swapping | 170 |
couple | 2,980 | nudist couple | 168 |
swinging couple | 797 | couple dollz | 155 |
amateur couple | 504 | cartoon doll couple | 155 |
nude couple | 414 | couple making love | 143 |
couple resort | 385 | the odd couple | 136 |
fred couple | 361 | married couple | 127 |
swinger couple | 282 | couple doll | 125 |
teen couple | 250 | couple kissing | 124 |
sexy couple | 234 | couple hardcore | 119 |
famous couple | 232 | young couple | 113 |
celebrity couple | 220 | swinger couple club | 113 |
couple picture | 216 | cute couple | 111 |
couple having sex | 211 | couple seeking couple | 108 |
couple negril | 207 | bisexual couple | 106 |
hot couple | 197 | bi couple | 105 |
interracial couple | 192 | anime couple | 98 |
naked couple | 190 | couple photo | 98 |
couple counseling | 187 | couple ocho rios | 95 |
gay couple | 172 | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "couple"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | ca (several, some), nja dy, ndërzej (impregnate, inseminate, pair off), lidh (articulate, associate, bend, bind, buckle, bundle, colligate, concatenate, connect, do up, dress, enfetter, fasten, glue, hitch, hook up, interconnect, join, joint, lace, ligate, link, moor, regard, relate, respect, solder, splice, string, switch on, tie, tie down, truss, unite), dyshe (double, doublet, dyshe), disa (any, certain, divers, several, some, sundry, umpteen, various), bashkoj (add together, ally, amalgamate, band together, close up, combine, compound, conglomerate, conjoin, conjugate, connect, consolidate, fuse, fuze, glue, hook up, inosculate, integrate, interlock, join, joint, knit, link, merge, piece, piece together, pool, solder, splice, unify, unite, weld), bëj çift, çiftohem (copulate), çift (conjugate, couplet, double, doublet, duet, match, pair, span, twin, two, twosome). (various references) | |
Arabic | قرن (conjugate, connection, connexion, coupling, horn, joint, pairing), تقارن, تسافد, زوجان (pair, twain), زوج اثنان, زوج إثنان (dual), زوج (consort, dyad, espouse, give in marriage, husband, marry, pair, partner, stud, wed), المزدوجة, إزدوج (geminate, pair), إزدواج (duplicity), رابط (attachment, camp, conjunctive, connective, copula, copulative, give voice to), ربط (attach, attachment, bind, connect, faster, hitch, interface, involve, join, knit, knitting, lash, lash down, ligature, link, moor, relate, rope, secure, set, slur, strap, swaddle, tether, tying, unite), رباط (band, bind, bond, cord, juncture, knot, ligament, ligation, ligature, swathe, truss). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | съвъкупявам се (mate), съешавам (mate), съединявам (aggregate, band, butt, clutch, compound, concatenate, conjoin, impale, incorporate, inosculate, interlock, join, join up, knee, knit, link, marry, mate, piece, piece together, rejoin, splice, tag, tie, tie in, unite), скачвам (fasten, link), свързвам по две, свързвам (ally, articulate, associate, bandage, bond, brace, bracket, catenate, colligate, concatenate, conjoin, conjugate, construe, gather, interconnect, join, knot, lash, link, marry, mate, pack, piece out, piece together, put through, run on, truss, weld), ремък за две кучета, чифтосвам (mate, pair, twin), чифт ловджийски кучета, зацепвам (engage, enmesh, hitch, mesh, pitch), женя (espouse, marry, match, wive), асоциирам (associate, connect), двойка сили, двойка (double, dyad, pair, twain, twosome), две свързани помежду си греди. (various references) | |
Chinese | 掛鉤 (link together), 對 (correct, for, pair, right, to, to answer, to be opposite, to direct, to face, to oppose, to reply), 夫妇, 一對 (pair). (various references) | |
Czech | spojovat se (associate), párek (banger, brace, Frankfurter, pair), pár (doublet, few, pair, several, some), nìkolik (few, several, some), dvojice (match, pair, two, twosome). (various references) | |
Danish | ægtepar (married people). (various references) | |
Dutch | koppelen (match, match-make), echtpaar (married people), echtelieden (married people). (various references) | |
Esperanto | parigi (match, pair, unite), kupli, geedzoj (married people). (various references) | |
Faeroese | kopla, køkja, hjún (married people). (various references) | |
Farsi | پیوستن (Adhere, Adjoin, Affiliate, Affix, Ally, Annex, Associate, Attach, Cement, Cleave, Cling, Connect, Join, Meet, Sort, Weld), زن وشوهر (Pair), زوج (Even, Pair, Spouse, Twin), جفت شدن , جفت (Double, Geminate, Jugate, Match, Mate, Pair, Peer, Tandem, Team, Twin), دوتا (Double, Geminate, Tow, Twin), بهم بستن (Apply, Truss). (various references) | |
Finnish | pari (pair), levypari, kytkeä yhteen, kytkeä (chain up, connect, connect up, plug in, switch, tie put on the lead, turn on). (various references) | |
French | couple, accoupler (connect), coupler (copulate), atteler. (various references) | |
Frisian | keppelje. (various references) | |
German | kuppeln (astrodomes, domes, match-make, operate the clutch, procure, to couple), paar (a few, pair, partnership, set, twosome), verbinden (affiliate, ally, associate, bandage, bandaging, bind, bind up, chaine, combine, communicate, compound, concatenate, conjoin, connect, connecting, contact, dress, interconnect, intertwine, join, join on, join up, joint, link, mate, merge, put through, report, splice, splicing, synthesize, tie, tie up, to affiliate, to agglutinate, to ally, to bandage, to chain, to combine, to compound, to concatenate, to conjoin, to contact, to couple, to interconnect, to splice, unite), einrücken (indent, indentation, insert, mesh, report for duty, set in, to indent), ehepaar (married couple, married people). (various references) | |
Greek | ζευγνύω. (various references) | |
Hebrew | זוג (brace, dyad, mate, pair, twosome). (various references) | |
Hungarian | párosít (pair, to conjugate, to couple, to fellow, to mate, to pair, to wed), pár (pair, twain), egy pár (brace, dyad, pair), összekapcsol (associate, associated, butt, clip, concatenate, conjoin, conjugate, connect, interconnect, join, join up, joint, link, put together, relate, splice, staple, to abut, to associate, to bracket, to clasp, to conjugate, to couple, to interconnect, to interlock, to link, to relate, to splice, to staple, to unite). (various references) | |
Icelandic | hjón (married people). (various references) | |
Indonesian | sejodoh (a pair, twosome), pasangan (counterpart, duo, mate, pair, partner), menggandengkan (hook together, link). (various references) | |
Irish | gcúpla. (various references) | |
Italian | paio (brace, pair, twain, yoke), coppia (brace, match, pair, twosome), consorti (married, married people), coniugi (married, married people), agganciare (catch, clasp, grapple, hook), accoppiare (join, match, mate, pair). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 二人 (pair, two people, two persons), 二人 (pair, two people, two persons), 偶力 , 偶 (doll, even number, friend, man and wife, occasional, rare, same kind), 夫婦 (husband and wife, married couple, pair, spouses), 両口 (both openings, two people), 対 (against, opposition, pair, ratio, set, versus). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ぐうりょく, ぐう (doll, even number, friend, man and wife, occasional, rare, same kind), ふたり (pair, two people, two persons), ふうふ (husband and wife, married couple, pair, spouses), つい (pair, set), ににん (pair, two people, two persons), りょうぐち (both openings, two people), めおと (husband and wife, married couple, pair, spouses), みょうと (husband and wife, married couple, pair, spouses). (various references) | |
Korean | 한 쌍. (various references) | |
Manx | piyral (match, match in pairs, matching, pair, pairing), piyr (brace, pair), lannoonaghey (pair, pairing), jees (both, brace, pair, twain, two), cubbyl (brace, coupler, in pairs, principal, yoke), cubbley, coraid. (various references) | |
Norwegian | par (pair), ektepar (married people). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ouplecay.(various references) | |
Polish | małżonkowie (married people), małżeństwo (married people). (various references) | |
Portuguese | par (bond, couplet, duet, duetto, even, fellow, oxbow, pair, peer, twain). (various references) | |
Romanian | împerechea (geminate, match, mate, pair, unite). (various references) | |
Russian | сцеплять (catenate, concatenate, interlink, link, trip), сцепить вагоны, свора (doggery, leash, pack), соединяться (ally, amalgamate, associate, coalesce, connect, interlock, knit, merge, pair, reunite, unite, yoke together), соединять пара, соединять (amalgamate, associate, band, band together, clutch, coalesce, combine, compound, conjoin, connect, incorporate, inosculate, interlock, join, joint, knit, link, merge, mix, piece together, reunite, span, splice, unite, yoke together), элемент (cell, element, term), спаривать, чета (pair), пожениться (be made one), пара сил, пара (doublet, dyad, match, pair, pendant, twain, two, two bits, twosome). (various references) | |
Scottish | càraid (a pair, married couple), paidhir (a pair, brace). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | vezati (associate, attach, band, bind, confine, connect, knot, lace, lash, link, moor, tie), spreg, spojiti (aggregate, bring together, combine, connect, fuse, hook up, join, joint, knit, link, lump, merge, pair, piece, piece together, pin together, ply, rabbet, slur, splice, tap), spariti (match, mate, pair), par (couple: a couple of, dyad, match, pair, twosome), dva (two). (various references) | |
Spanish | embragar (clutch, engage), pareja (brace, date, doublet, dyad, fellow, flubdub, mate, pair, partner, pendant, twosome), par (brace, equal, even, like, pair, par, peer, placenta, rafter, time). (various references) | |
Swedish | koppla (connect, hook, leash, pander, put through, switch), par (brace, couples, pair, pairs, span, team, twosome, yoke). (various references) | |
Turkish | karı koca (man and wife), ilişkiye girmek (copulate, have intercourse with, jazz, jump, screw, sleep with), iki (ambi-, amphi-, bi-, brace, dual, duo-, dyad, twain, two, two-), eşleştirmek, eş (better half, coequal, companion, compeer, consort, correspondent, corresponding, counterpart, doublet, duplicate, dutch, equal, fellow, helpmate, helpmeet, husband, identic, identical, iso-, lady, like, match, matching, mate, old lady, old man, old woman, one of a pair, pair, Parti, partner, placenta, spousal, spouse, the missis, the old woman, wife), birleştirmek (aggregate, ally, amalgamate, assemble, associate, colligate, combine, compound, confederate, congregate, conjoin, connect, consolidate, consubstantiate, dovetail, federate, fuze, incorporate, inosculate, integrate, interconnect, interlink, join, joint, knit together, knit up, link up, match, mediatize, patch up, piece, piece together, pool, put to, put together, reunite, stick together, tack, tag, unify, unite, wed to), birleşmek (affiliate, agree, ally, ally oneself, amalgamate, associate oneself, band together, be made one, coalesce, combine, confederate, congregate, conjoin, conjugate, converge, fasten, federate, fuze, gang, incorporate, inosculate, join, knit, knit up, link, make one, meld, merge, reunite, unite, weld), bağlamak (affiliate, assign, attach, attribute, band, bandage, belay, bend, bind, bond, brace, braid, clasp, colligate, concatenate, conjoin, connect, copulate, cord, do up, engage, enthral, enthrall, fasten, fasten up, fix, fixate, grapple, guy, hitch, hook on, hook up, infix, interconnect, interlink, interlock, inthral, join, knit, knit together, knit up, knot, lace, lace up, lash, lash down, leash, ligature, link, link up, lock, lock up, mediatize, oblige, put through, rivet, rope, settle, string, subordinate, switch to, tether, tie, tie down, tie up, truss, unite, Wed), çiftleştirmek (cause to mate, pair, service), çiftleşmek (breed, copulate, mate, pair, rut, tread, tup), çift (ambi-, amphi-, bi-, binary, brace, conjugate, dipl-, diplo, double, dual, duet, duple, duplicate, dyad, even, geminate, pair, twin, yoke). (various references) | |
Turkmen | дr-aяal (married couple). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | сполучатися (blend, communicate, conjoin, conjugate, connect), спаровуватися (mate), спаровувати (pair), кілька (anchovy, several, some, something, sprat), з'єднуватися (agglutinate, articulate, coalesce, come together, conjoin, conjugate, connect, interlock, join, knit, mix, tie in, unite), з'єднувати (adjoin, agglutinate, aggregate, amalgamate, articulate, associate, cement, commingle, compact, compound, concatenate, conflate, conjoin, connect, cumulate, glue, inosculate, interlock, joint, knit, leash, link, merge, piece together, tag, thwack, tie in, twin, unite), зв'язувати (apply, band, bind up, brace, cement, concatenate, fasten, join, knit together, strap, tie, tie down, tie up), асоціювати (associate, connect), парні предмети, пара (doublet, fume, match, pair, pendant, steam, twain, two, twosome, vapor, vapour). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | cặp đôi vợ chồng, lúc nào cũng cặp kè bên nhau, đôi (binary, double, pair, two). (various references) | |
Welsh | cyplysu, cyplu, cwpl (tie-beam). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | combinare, conparabimus, conparabitur, conparabo, conparabor, conparantes, conparare, conparari, conparastis, conparata, conparate, conparati, conparatus, conparaverunt, conparavi, conparavit, conparemus, conparer, conparet, conparetur, copula, copulabis, copulabitur, copulabuntur, copulari, copulata, copulatas, copulatus, copulavi, copulavit, iugo. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | cople. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Romans Chapter 7, Verse 3 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Ara oun zwntoV tou androV moicaliV crhmatisei ean genhtai andri eterw ean de apoqanh o anhr eleuqera estin apo tou nomou tou mh einai authn moicalida genomenhn andri eterw |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Igitur vivente viro vocabitur adultera si fuerit cum alio viro si autem mortuus fuerit vir eius liberata est a lege ut non sit adultera si fuerit cum alio viro |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Swa nu, gif heo treowe oðerne mann þonne hir wer lifeð, wearð heo æwbreca genemnod. Ac gif hir wer swelte, is heo of þære æ geæmetigd and nis heo na æwbreca, þeah þæt heo treoweð oðerne mann. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | Therfor sche schal be clepid auoutresse, if sche be with another man, while the hosebonde lyueth; but if hir hosebonde is deed, sche is delyuered fro the lawe of the hosebonde, that sche be not auoutresse, if sche be with another man. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | So then yf whill the man liveth she couple her selfe with another man she shalbe counted a wedlocke breaker. But yf the man be deed she is fre fro the lawe: so that she is no wedlocke breaker though she couple her selfe with another man. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | So then, if while her husband liveth, she is married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband is dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | So if, while the husband is living, she is joined to another man, she will get the name of one who is untrue to her husband: but if the husband is dead, she is free from the law, so that she is not untrue, even if she takes another man. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Romans Chapter 7, Verse 3 |
| Cebuano | Sumala niini, siya pagaisipon nga mananapaw kon makigpuyo siyag laing lalaki samtang buhi pa ang iyang bana. Apan kon mamatay ang iyang bana, mahigawas na siya sa maong kasugoan, ug kon mamana siyag lain dili siya mananapaw. |
| Croatian | Dakle: dok joj muž živi, zvat æe se, oèito, preljubnicom poðe li za drugoga. Ako li joj pak muž umre, slobodna je od zakona te nije preljubnica poðe li za drugoga. |
| Danish | Derfor skal hun kaldes en Horkvinde, om hun bliver en anden Mands, medens Manden lever: men når Manden dør, er hun fri fra den Lov, så at hun ikke er en Horkvinde, om hun bliver en anden Mands. |
| Dutch | Daarom dan, indien zij eens anderen mans wordt, terwijl de man leeft, zo zal zij een overspeelster genaamd worden; maar indien de man gestorven is, zo is zij vrij van de wet, alzo dat zij geen overspeelster is, als zij eens anderen mans wordt. |
| Finnish | Sentähden hän saa avionrikkojan nimen, jos miehensä eläessä antautuu toiselle miehelle; mutta jos mies kuolee, on hän vapaa siitä laista, niin ettei hän ole avionrikkoja, jos menee toiselle miehelle. |
| French | Si donc, du vivant de son mari, elle devient la femme d`un autre homme, elle sera appelée adultère; mais si le mari meurt, elle est affranchie de la loi, de sorte qu`elle n`est point adultère en devenant la femme d`un autre. |
| German | Wo sie nun eines andern Mannes wird, solange der Mann lebt, wird sie eine Ehebrecherin geheißen; so aber der Mann stirbt, ist sie frei vom Gesetz, daß sie nicht eine Ehebrecherin ist, wo sie eines andern Mannes wird. |
| Hungarian | Azért tehát az õ férjének életében paráznának mondatik, ha más férfihoz megy; ha azonban meghal a férje, szabaddá lesz a törvénytõl, úgy hogy nem lesz parázna, ha más férfihoz megy. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Kalau wanita itu hidup dengan laki-laki yang lain pada waktu suaminya masih hidup, maka wanita itu dikatakan berzinah. Tetapi kalau suaminya meninggal, maka secara hukum, wanita itu sudah bebas. Dan kalau ia kawin lagi dengan seorang laki-laki yang lain, maka ia tidak berzinah. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Sebab itu, jikalau perempuan itu berlakikan orang lain tatkala suaminya lagi hidup, maka ia dikata orang perempuan berzinah; tetapi jikalau suaminya itu mati, terlepaslah perempuan itu daripada hukum itu, sehingga bukanlah ia perempuan berzinah, walaupun berlakikan orang lain. |
| Maori | Na, ki te riro ia i te tangata ke i tana tane e ora ana ano, ka kiia ia he wahine puremu: tena ka mate te tane, e atea ana a i te ture, ka kore ia e puremu ahakoa riro i te tangata ke. |
| Norwegian | Derfor skal hun kalles en horkvinne om hun, mens mannen lever, ekter en annen mann; men dersom mannen dør, er hun fri fra loven, så hun ikke blir en horkvinne om hun ekter en annen mann. |
| Portuguese | De sorte que, enquanto viver o marido, será chamado adúltera, se for de outro homem; mas, se ele morrer, ela está livre da lei, e assim não será adúltera se for de outro marido. |
| Rumanian | Dacq deci, cknd ki trqiewte bqrbatul, ea se mqritq dupq altul, se va chema preacurvq; dar dacq -i moare bqrbatul, este deslegatq de Lege, awa cq nu mai este preacurvq, dacq se mqritq dupq altul. |
| Russian | рПУЕНХ, ЕУМЙ РТЙ ЦЙЧПН НХЦЕ ЧЩКДЕФ ЪБ ДТХЗПЗП, ОБЪЩЧБЕФУС РТЕМАВПДЕКГЕА; ЕУМЙ ЦЕ ХНТЕФ НХЦ, ПОБ УЧПВПДОБ ПФ ЪБЛПОБ, Й ОЕ ВХДЕФ РТЕМАВПДЕКГЕА, ЧЩКДС ЪБ ДТХЗПЗП НХЦБ. |
| Shuar | Tuma asamtai aishri iwiaakain Chíkich aishmanjai Tsaníakka tsanirmawai. Tura ni aishri jakamtai Chíkich aishmanjai Páchitsuk nuatnakminiaiti tura nuikia tsanirmatsui. |
| Spanish | Por lo tanto, si ella se une con otro hombre mientras vive su esposo, será llamada adúltera. Pero si su esposo muere, ella es libre de la ley; y si se une con otro esposo, no es adúltera. |
| Swahili | Hivyo mwanamke huyo akiishi na mwanamume mwingine wakati mumewe yungali hai, ataitwa mzinzi; lakini mumewe akifa, mwanamke huyo yu huru kisheria, na akiolewa na mwanamume mwingine, yeye si mzinzi. |
| Swedish | Alltså, om hon giver sig åt en annan man, medan hennes man lever, så kallas hon äktenskapsbryterska; men om mannen dör, då är hon fri ifrån lagen, så att hon icke är äktenskapsbryterska, om hon giver sig åt en annan man. |
| Uma | Jadi', ane rapa' -na tobine toei mpotomane tomane ntani' -na bula tuwu' -pidi tomane-na to lomo' -na, mobualo' hanga' -na. Aga ane mpolia' mate-mi-hawo tomane-na, uma-ipi tehoo' hante atura toe. Nau' ncamoko-i hante tomane ntani' -na, uma-i-hawo rahanga' topobualo'. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "couple": coupled, couplement, couplements, coupler, couplers, couples, couplet, couplets. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "couple": decouple, intercouple, recouple, thermocouple, uncouple. (additional references) | |
Words containing "couple": decoupled, decouples, recoupled, recouples, thermocouples, uncoupled, uncoupler, uncouplers, uncouples. (additional references) | |
| |
"Couple" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Boepple, Cepple, Cieplak, compla, comple, copule, copulu, couble, couglan, couille, coule, coulpe, coupel, coupla, Coypel, Cupel, cuple, cupple, touple. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "couple" (pronounced ku"pul) |
| 5 | k u" p u l | decouple, uncouple. |
| 4 | -u" p u l | supple. |
| 3 | -p u l | ample, Appel, apple, archetypal, businesspeople, carpal, chapel, congresspeople, craftspeople, cripple, crumple, dimple, disciple, episcopal, example, fipple, gospel, grapple, hopple, spokespeople, staple, steeple, subprincipal, temple, laypeople, maple, metacarpal, multiple, municipal, newspeople, nipple, oedipal, opal, papal, people, pimple, pineapple, Popple, principal, principle, pupil, purple, quadruple, quintuple, ripple, rumple, salespeople, sample, scalpel, scruple, Semple, simple, tipple, topple, townspeople, trample, triple. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "c-e-l-o-p-u" | |
-1 letter: coupe, cupel, loupe. | |
-2 letters: clop, clue, cole, cope, coup, lope, loup, luce, pole, puce, pule. | |
-3 letters: cel, cep, col, cop, cue, cup, ecu, leu, lop, ole, ope, pec, pol, pul, upo. | |
-4 letters: el, lo, oe, op, pe, up. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-e-l-o-p-u" | |
+1 letter: closeup, copulae, coupled, coupler, couples, couplet, octuple. | |
+2 letters: closeups, clupeoid, copulate, couplers, couplets, cupolaed, decouple, octupled, octuples, octuplet, octuplex, opercula, opercule, opulence, opulency, opuscule, populace, poultice, recouple, scopulae, uncouple, upcoiled. | |
+3 letters: clupeoids, copulated, copulates, corpulent, corpuscle, decoupled, decouples, octuplets, opercular, opercules, operculum, opulences, opuscules, peculator, pocketful, populaces, poulticed, poultices, pronuclei, recoupled, recouples, supercoil, supercool, uncoupled, uncoupler, uncouples, unpoliced. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Historic 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Quotations: Spoken 14. Quotations: Speeches 15. Usage Frequency 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Bible Trace | 21. Derivations 22. Rhymes 23. Anagrams 24. Bibliography |
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