beaucoup

Etymology

Borrowed from French beaucoup. Popularized by the American GIs during the Vietnam War.

Determiner

beaucoup

1. (US) much, many, a lot of.

Noun

beaucoup (plural beaucoups)

1. An abundance. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Adverb

beaucoup (not comparable)

1. In abundance.

Etymology

From Old French biau cop, first attested circa 1210.^[1] Equivalent to beau (“nice, beautiful”) +‎ coup (“hit, strike”). The latter word also means “helping of soup or beverage”, first attested circa 1375, which sense may have triggered or reinforced beaucoup to mean “a lot”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bo.ku/

• audio

  (file)

Adverb

beaucoup

1. much, very much, a lot

   Merci beaucoup!

   Thank you very much!

See also

• plus
• autant
• moins

References

Further reading

• “beaucoup” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).