couper

/\ku.pe\/ verb

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#2,418

in French word usage

Misspellings

7

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

couper is aFrenchverb. It means: Diviser un corps continu, avec quelque chose de tranchant. Pronounced \ku.pe\. It ranks #2,418 in French word frequency. Often confused with cour and coups.

Key facts for couper
PropertyValue
Headwordcouper
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ku.pe\
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,418
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of couper in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for couper is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ku.pe\. Corpus data places it at rank #2,418 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 25 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for couper, with forms such as "ccouper", "copuer", and "couepr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cour", "coups", "coûte", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is couper, spelled C-O-U-P-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Diviser un corps continu, avec quelque chose de tranchant.
  2. 2
    Séparer en deux ou plusieurs morceaux.
  3. 3
    Tailler suivant les règles de l’art.
  4. 4
    Châtrer.
  5. 5
    Séparer un jeu de cartes en deux avant que celui qui a la main donne.
  6. 6
    Fournir une carte d’atout au lieu d’une carte d’une couleur manquante, ce qui, la plupart du temps, emporte le point. → voir surcouper
  7. 7
    Traverser.
  8. 8
    Croiser avec autre chose.
  9. 9
    Barrer, intercepter, rendre impraticable.
  10. 10
    Interrompre, arrêter, faire cesser.
  11. 11
    Éloigner.
  12. 12
    Mêler un liquide avec un autre de force moindre. Absolument, y mêler de l’eau.
  13. 13
    Pousser la balle de manière qu’elle ralentisse et dévie dans son rebond.
  14. 14
    Être coupant, tranchant.
  15. 15
    Prendre un raccourci, aller par le chemin le plus court.
  16. 16
    Achever de passer l’épée par-dessus la pointe de l’épée de l’adversaire.
  17. 17
    Faire le pas qu’on nomme coupé.
  18. 18
    Entamer la chair, y faire une incision.
  19. 19
    S’user facilement à l’endroit des plis.
  20. 20
    Se contredire, se démentir soi-même dans ses discours, laisser échapper une chose qu’on voulait cacher. → voir recouper
  21. 21
    (réciproque) Se croiser.
  22. 22
    Croire à quelque chose de trompeur, se laisser berner, tomber dans le panneau.
  23. 23
    Couper la tête, guillotiner.
  24. 24
    Réduire des crédits, un budget.
  25. 25
    Échapper à, être dispensé, être exempté.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccouper,copuer,couepr,couperr,coupper,coupre,cuoper

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for couper

Misspelling Variants of "couper"

ccouper7copuer6couepr6couperr7coupper7coupre6cuoper6
Misspelling Variants of "couper"

Frequency rank: #2,418 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "couper"?
"couper" is spelled C-O-U-P-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ku.pe\.
What does "couper" mean?
As a verb, "couper" means: Diviser un corps continu, avec quelque chose de tranchant.
What words are commonly confused with "couper"?
"couper" is commonly confused with "cour", "coups", "coûte". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "couper"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "couper" is \ku.pe\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "couper" come from?
"couper" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.