coup
n. countablen. a sudden, successful action that is hard to achieve. It can also mean a group of people taking control of a government by force.
n. a sudden, successful, and often unexpected achievement or stroke of fortune. In a political context, it refers to the illegal seizure of power from a government.
Winning that big contract was a real coup for the small firm.
The newspaper scored a major coup by landing an exclusive interview with the reclusive director.
While the military coup dominated the international headlines, local analysts focused on the economic instability that had preceded the sudden change in leadership.
Reborrowed in modern times from modern French coup (“blow, strike”), from Old French coup, colp, from Late Latin colpus, from Latin colaphus. Doublet of cope and colpus. The same Old French word had been borrowed into Middle English as coupe, caupe (with different pronunciation).
From Middle English coupen (“to buy; (figuratively) to pay for”), from Old Norse kaupa (“to buy, bargain, barter, exchange”).
The final 'p' is silent; the word is pronounced like 'coo'.
a coup of statea coup d'étatWhen referring to a government takeover, the full French loanword is 'coup d'état', though 'coup' is often used alone.