couch

A1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkɐʊ̯t͡ʃ/ UK /ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/ See IPA manual

Freq #2803

Meanings

1

noun
A long, soft seat for two or more people; a sofa.

We curled up on the couch to watch a film.
2

verb
To express something in a particular way, often to soften it.

She couched her criticism in polite and careful words.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a long, soft seat for two... sofa settee divan

Word family

Forms couchedcouchescouching

Derived forms bed-couchcouch-grasscouch-surfcouch-surfercouch-surfingcouchablecouchancycouchboundcouchednesscouchercouchfulcouchless

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English couchen, from Old French (se) couchier, (se) colchier (“go to bed, lay down”), from Latin collocāre (“set in place”), from com- (“together, with”) + locāre. Doublet of collocate.

couchen Middle English couchier Old French collocō Latin

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Topics

People & Society

External links

# couch

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɐʊ̯t͡ʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkaʊ̯t͡ʃ/
**Frequency rank:** 2803

## Meanings
1. A long, soft seat for two or more people; a sofa.
2. To express something in a particular way, often to soften it.

## Examples
- We curled up on the couch to watch a film.
- She couched her criticism in polite and careful words.

## Derived Forms
- bed-couch
- couch-grass
- couch-surf
- couch-surfer
- couch-surfing
- couchable
- couchancy
- couchbound
- couchedness
- coucher
- couchful
- couchless

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: couchen
- Root: couchier
- Root: collocō

## Etymology
From Middle English couchen, from Old French (se) couchier, (se) colchier (“go to bed, lay down”), from Latin collocāre (“set in place”), from com- (“together, with”) + locāre. Doublet of collocate.

## AI Etymology
couch comes from Middle English couchen, from Old French (se) couchier, (se) colchier (“go to bed, lay down”), from Latin collocāre (“set in place”), from com- (“together, with”) + locāre. Doublet of collocate. The historical chain includes Middle English couchen, Old French couchier, Latin collocō. Current senses include A long, soft seat for two or more people; a sofa and to express something in a particular way, often to soften it. English relatives and later formations include bed-couch, couch-grass, couch-surf.

## Topics
- People & Society

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