count coup
/ˌkaʊnt ˈkuː/US/ˌkaʊnt ˈku/
count coup verb: to win prestige in battle by performing an act of bravery in the face of the enemy (such as touching him and escaping unharmed), a ritual of the Plains Indians of North America.
Verb
count coup (third-person singular simple present counts coup, present participle counting coup, simple past and past participle counted coup)
- To win prestige in battle by performing an act of bravery in the face of the enemy (such as touching him and escaping unharmed), a ritual of the Plains Indians of North America.
- dǐ ki, v. t., to strike, to whip, to "count coup."[1873, Washington Matthews, “dǐ ki”, in Grammar and Dictionary of the Language of the Hidatsa (Minnetarees, Grosventres of the Missouri). With an Introductory Sketch of the Tribe (Shea’s Library of...
- Sitting Bull, on horseback, with his brother behind him, counts "coup" on the soldier, and adds a new feather to his war bonnet and variety to the color of his legging fringes.1876 July 29, Porte Crayon [pseudonym; David Hunter Strother], “Sitting Bull.—Autobiography of the Famous Sioux Chief.”, in Harper’s Weekly. A Journal of Civilization, volume XX, number 1022...
Examples of count coup in a sentence
- To a Plains Indian warrior "to count coup" meant, literally, "to touch the enemy." To count coup, a warrior might kill an enemy, injure him, struggle with him, or merely touch him.2006, Joseph Medicine Crow, Herman Viola, Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond, Washington, D.C.: National...
- In this sham battle, Crow men pretend to count coup on their old enemies, the Piegan.2012, Lillian Bullshows Hogan, Barbara Loeb, Mardell Hogan Plainfeather, “Memories of Youth”, in The Woman Who Loved Mankind: The Life of a...
- The belief that a warrior could obtain some of the soul of his enemy, as well as some of his strength, courage, and energy, motivated warriors to count coup whenever the opportunity arose.2012, GaWaNi Pony Boy, “Horse and Native American: The Relationship Begins”, in Ruth Berman, editor, Out of the Saddle: Native American...
Forms of count coup
| third-person singular present | counts coup |
|---|---|
| present participle | counting coup |
| past participle | counted coup |
| past | counted coup |
Origin of count coup
count + coup (“quick, brilliant, and highly successful act”) (from French coup (“blow, hit, strike”), ultimately from Ancient Greek κόλᾰφος (kólăphos, “a buffet, a blow”)).
Words that rhyme with count coup
Questions about count coup
- What does count coup mean?
- Count coup means to win prestige in battle by performing an act of bravery in the face of the enemy (such as touching him and escaping unharmed), a ritual of the Plains Indians of North America.
- How do you use count coup in a sentence?
- To a Plains Indian warrior "to count coup" meant, literally, "to touch the enemy." To count coup, a warrior might kill an enemy, injure him, struggle with him, or merely touch him.
- What part of speech is count coup?
- Count coup is a verb.
- How do you pronounce count coup?
- Count coup is pronounced /ˌkaʊnt ˈkuː/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of count coup?
- The past tense of count coup is counted coup.
Words near count coup in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: count coup (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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