beaucoup

Borrowed from French beaucoup. Popularized by the American GIs during the Vietnam War.

• boku, boocoo, bookoo, buku

beaucoup

1. (US, informal) much, many, a lot of.

   You know that cost beaucoup bucks!

beaucoup (plural beaucoups)

1. an abundance. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

beaucoup (not comparable)

1. In abundance.

From Old French biau cop, first attested circa 1210.[1] Equivalent to beau (“nice, beautiful”) +‎ coup (“hit, strike”). The latter word also means “helping of soup or beverage”, first attested circa 1375, whose sense may have triggered or reinforced beaucoup to mean “a lot”.

• IPA^(key): /bo.ku/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u

beaucoup

1. much, very much, a lot

   Merci beaucoup !

   Thank you very much!

• beau, belle

• plus
• autant
• moins

• “beaucoup” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).