Coupling

How to spell coupling

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce coupling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does coupling mean?

1. nounA device or fitting that joins two parts, pipes, shafts, or vehicles together.
2. nounThe action or process of linking or pairing two things together.

Coupling in a sentence

• The engineer replaced the worn coupling between the two railway carriages.

• The tight coupling of the two departments slowed every decision.

• A leak appeared at the hose coupling near the pump.

• Loose coupling between software modules makes the system easier to maintain.

Where does coupling come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin copula, which literally meant 'a bond, a tie, or a link', the same root that gives us the grammatical 'copula' and even 'copulate'. Old French reshaped copula into cople, and Middle English borrowed it during the 1200s as 'couple', a pair joined together. The verb 'to couple', meaning to join or fasten two things, soon followed, and adding the noun-forming suffix -ing produced 'coupling' for the act of joining or, more concretely, the device that does the joining. The mechanical sense, a fitting that connects two railway carriages, pipes, or rotating shafts, became common during the industrial expansion of the 1800s. The single 'p' in the spelling traces straight back to that one 'p' in copula, even though the doubled 'p' in 'happen' or 'supper' tempts writers to add a second.

How the word is built

• coupl- (from couple: to join, pair, via Latin copula 'bond, link')
• -ing (noun-forming suffix)