coup de grâce

English

Alternative forms

• coup de grace

Etymology

Late 17th century. Borrowed from French coup de grâce (“finishing blow”). Originally referring to a merciful stroke putting a fatally wounded person out of misery or to the shot delivered to the head of a prisoner after facing a firing squad.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku də ɡɹɑs/
• IPA^(key): /ku də ɡɹɑː/ (hyperforeign)—Some English speakers, aware that some final consonants are dropped in French, overcompensate by dropping the final /s/ sound in grâce, making this sound like French coup de gras (“strike of grease”). This mispronunciation is quickly becoming ubiquitous and is being popularized by the media (e.g., it occurs twice in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume 2).
• Rhymes: -ɑːs

Noun

coup de grâce (plural coups de grâce)

1. A final blow or shot given to kill a wounded person or animal.
2. An action that finishes something.

Translations

final blow

• Catalan: cop de gràcia m
• Danish: nådesstød n, dødsstød
• Dutch: genadeslag (nl)
• Finnish: armonisku, armonlaukaus
• French: coup de grâce (fr) m
• German: Gnadenschuss (de) m, Gnadenstoß (de) m
• Greek: χαριστική βολή f (charistikí volí)
• Hungarian: kegyelemdöfés (hu)
• Italian: colpo di grazia (it) m

• Norwegian: nådestøt (no) n, nådeskudd n
• Polish: dobicie (pl) n
• Portuguese: golpe de misericórdia m
• Russian: уда́р милосе́рдия m (udár milosérdija), после́дний уда́р m (poslédnij udár), смерте́льный уда́р m (smertélʹnyj udár)
• Spanish: golpe de gracia m, tiro de gracia m
• Swedish: nådastöt (sv) c
• Turkish: son darbe, öldürücü darbe
• Westrobothnian: dåvahågg n

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French

Etymology

Literally "strike of mercy".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku də ɡʁɑs/

• Audio (FR)

  (file)

Noun

coup de grâce m (plural coups de grâce)

1. finishing blow

Descendants

• English: coup de grâce