couple

Etymology
From, from , from. .

Noun



 * 1)  Two of the same kind connected or considered together.
 * A couple of police officers appeared at the door.
 * 1) Two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship.
 * 2)   A small number.
 * 3) One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.
 * 4)  A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
 * 5)  A couple-close.
 * 6) That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.
 * 1) One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.
 * 2)  A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
 * 3)  A couple-close.
 * 4) That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.
 * 1) One of the pairs of plates of two metals which compose a voltaic battery, called a voltaic couple or galvanic couple.
 * 2)  A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
 * 3)  A couple-close.
 * 4) That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.
 * 1)  A couple-close.
 * 2) That which joins or links two things together; a bond or tie; a coupler.

Usage notes

 * A traditional and still broadly accepted usage of is as a noun followed by "of" to mean "two", as in "a couple of people". In this usage, "a couple of" is equivalent to "a pair of".


 * The very widespread use of the same expression (e.g. "a couple of people") to mean any small number is often considered informal but is in fact very old and often considered unobjectionable on all levels of style, sometimes even contradictorily by the same publication that labels this use as informal elsewhere on the same page, e.g. The American Heritage Dictionary.
 * The farm is a couple of miles off the main highway [= a few miles away].
 * We’re going out to a restaurant with a couple of friends [= a few friends].
 * Wait a couple of minutes [= a few minutes].


 * or a couple is also used informally and formally as an adjective or determiner (see definition below) to mean "a few", in which case it is not followed by "of". Many usage manuals advise against this widespread use although The Merriam-Webster Dictionary points out that this use before a word indicating degree is standard in both US and UK English (e.g. "a couple more examples" or "a couple less problems"). Only its use before an ordinary plural noun is an Americanism with some prevalence in Canada, which the dictionary explains is "common in speech and in writing that is not meant to be formal or elevated". This use is especially frequent with numbers, time, and other measurements, such as "a couple hundred", "a couple minutes", and "a couple dozen".

Synonyms

 * , ; see also Thesaurus:duo
 * , ; see also Thesaurus:duo

Translations

 * Albanian:
 * Arabic: زَوْجَانِ
 * Armenian:
 * Azerbaijani:
 * Basque: bikote
 * Belarusian: па́ра
 * Bengali:
 * Bulgarian:
 * Burmese: ,
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:, , (married),  (married),  (unmarried)
 * Czech:
 * Danish:
 * Dutch:, , ,
 * Esperanto: paro
 * Estonian: paar
 * Finnish: ,
 * French:, ,
 * Middle French: couple
 * Old French: couple
 * Georgian: წყვილი
 * German:
 * Greek: ,
 * Hawaiian: paʻa male
 * Hebrew:
 * Hindi:, जोड़ा,
 * Hungarian:
 * Hunsrik: Casal, Paar
 * Icelandic:
 * Ido: ,
 * Ingrian: pariskunta, parisikko
 * Irish: lánúin
 * Old Irish: lánamain
 * Italian:
 * Japanese:, , , ,
 * Kazakh: жұбай, жұп
 * Khmer:, ,
 * Korean:, 커플
 * Kyrgyz:
 * Lao: ຄູ່
 * Latvian:
 * Lithuanian: pora
 * Luxembourgish: Puer
 * Macedonian: пар, двојка
 * Malayalam: ദമ്പതികൾ
 * Middle English: couple
 * Mongolian:
 * Nepali: जोडी
 * Norman: couplle,  coupl'ye
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål:
 * Ottoman Turkish: چفت, زوج
 * Pashto: زوج
 * Persian: ,
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian: ,
 * Russian: ,
 * Sanskrit: ,
 * Scottish Gaelic: dithis, càraid
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: па̑р
 * Roman:
 * Slovak: pár
 * Slovene:
 * Spanish:
 * Swahili:
 * Swedish:
 * Tajik:, завҷ
 * Tamil:
 * Thai:
 * Turkish:
 * Turkmen: jübüt
 * Ukrainian: па́ра
 * Uyghur: جۈپ
 * Uzbek:
 * Vietnamese: đôi vợ chồng,
 * Welsh: ,


 * Armenian:
 * Azerbaijani:, cütlük
 * Bulgarian:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: ,
 * Czech:
 * Dutch:, ,
 * Esperanto: paro
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * Middle French: couple
 * Old French: couple
 * German:
 * Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌾𐌿𐌺
 * Greek: ,
 * Hebrew:
 * Irish: cúpla, ordphéire
 * Italian: ,
 * Japanese: ,
 * Kabyle: abalag
 * Latin:
 * Latvian:
 * Maori: tōpū
 * Middle English: couple
 * Ottoman Turkish: چفت, زوج
 * Polish:, dwie,
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Romanian:
 * Russian: ,
 * Sanskrit: ,
 * Slovene:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Ukrainian: па́ра, дво́є
 * Welsh: ,


 * Azerbaijani: bir-iki
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech:
 * Dutch: ,
 * Esperanto: kelkaj...
 * Finnish:
 * French:, deux ou trois...
 * Georgian: რამდენიმე
 * German:, ein paar
 * Hebrew:
 * Irish: cúpla
 * Italian:
 * Japanese:
 * Korean: 두셋
 * Latvian:
 * Polish: ,
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Romanian: câțiva, câteva
 * Russian:
 * Spanish: un par de,
 * Swedish: ett par
 * Welsh:


 * Finnish:
 * Japanese:, 電対
 * Russian:
 * Swedish:


 * Dutch:
 * Finnish: voimapari
 * French:
 * Japanese:
 * Romanian:
 * Spanish: par de fuerzas

Adjective

 * 1)  Two or (a) small number of.

Determiner

 * 1)  Two or a few, a small number of.
 * A couple fewer people show up every week.
 * I'll be there in a couple minutes.

Verb

 * 1)  To join (two things) together, or (one thing) to (another).
 * Now the conductor will couple the train cars.
 * I've coupled our system to theirs.
 * 1)  To join in wedlock; to marry.
 * 2)  To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.
 * 3)  To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.
 * 1)  To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.
 * 2)  To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.
 * 1)  To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.
 * 1)  To cause (two animals) to copulate, to bring (two animals) together for mating.

Synonyms

 * ,, ; see also Thesaurus:join
 * , ; see also Thesaurus:marry
 * , ; see also Thesaurus:copulate

Translations

 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Dutch:
 * French:
 * Hebrew:, איחד
 * Ido:
 * Italian: ,
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian:, ,
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:

Etymology
, from, from. .

Noun

 * 1) two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship
 * 2)  a force ; a pure moment
 * 3)  an ordered pair
 * 1)  an ordered pair

Noun

 * 1)  an accessory used to tightly attach two animals next to each other by the neck
 * 2)  a pair of something
 * 3)  a  of something, not to be mistaken as a few

Etymology 1
, from.

Noun

 * 1) A group of two especially living beings; never three or more as in modern English:
 * 2) A ; two people joined in marriage.
 * 3) A breeding pair; two animals to be bred with each other.
 * 4) A lead or tie linked to two dogs to restrain them.
 * 5) A unit of measure for especially dried fruits.
 * 6)  One of two opposing roof beams or the two as a pair
 * 7)  Sexual intercourse; the act of sex.

Etymology
From, from.

Noun

 * 1)  (two things)
 * 2) sexual liaison

Usage notes

 * Occasionally used as a masculine noun (le couple)