Other forms: coups
A coup is a sudden seizing of power from a government by force. Usually the army, usually overnight.
The full phrase is coup d'état, and English has shortened it to coup, which is pronounced coo with the p silent. Attempted coups outnumber successful ones. There is a completely separate and much cheerier sense, since pulling off a coup means achieving something impressive against the odds, so signing a famous author is a real coup for a publisher.
1nouncoupA sudden violent seizure of power from a government.
“The coup was over within a day.”
2nounimpressiveAn impressive and unexpected achievement.
“Getting the interview was a considerable coup.”
Proto-Indo-European
*kelh₂-
Latin
colpus
Old French
coup
French
coup — blow, strike
English, today
coup
Reborrowed in modern times from modern French coup (“blow, strike”), from Old French coup, from Latin colpus, from Latin colaphus. a doublet of cope and colpus. The same Old French word had been borrowed into Middle English as coupe (with different pronunciation).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA