coach

pronunciation

How to pronounce coach in British English: UK [kəʊtʃ] word uk audio image

How to pronounce coach in American English: US [koʊtʃ] word us audio image

Noun:

(sports) someone in charge of training an athlete or a team
a person who gives private instruction (as in singing or acting)
a railcar where passengers ride
a carriage pulled by four horses with one driver
a vehicle carrying many passengers; used for public transport
Verb:

teach and supervise (someone); act as a trainer or coach (to), as in sports
drive a coach

Word Origin

coach: coach: [16] Coach is one of the few English words borrowed from Hungarian. It comes (via French coche and German kutsche) from Hungarian kocsi, an adjective meaning ‘of Kocs’ (Kocs is a village in north-east Hungary, between Budapest and Györ, where carriages, carts, etc were made). In Hungarian the original full form was kocsi szeker ‘cart from Kocs’. The modern sense ‘instructor, trainer’ originated in 19th-century university slang, the notion being that the student was conveyed through the exam by the tutor as if he were riding in a carriage.

coach (n.): 1550s, "large kind of carriage," from Middle French coche (16c.), from German kotsche, from Hungarian kocsi (szekér) "(carriage) of Kocs," village where it was first made. In Hungary, the thing and the name for it date from 15c., and forms are found in most European languages (Spanish and Portuguese coche, Italian cocchino, Dutch koets). Applied to railway cars 1866, American English. Sense of "economy or tourist class" is from 1949. Meaning "instructor/trainer" is c. 1830 Oxford University slang for a tutor who "carries" a student through an exam; athletic sense is 1861.

coach (v.): 1610s, "to convey in a coach," from coach (n.). Meaning "to prepare (someone) for an exam" is from 1849. Related: Coached; coaching.

vt.

5. One evening our coach rumbled past a hundred-strong crowd milling around in the darkness .