Etimology
Borrowed from Middle French coche, from German Kutsche, from Hungarian kocsi. According to historians, the coach was named after the small Hungarian town of Kocs, which made a livelihood from cart building and transport between Vienna and Budapest. The meaning "instructor/trainer" is from Oxford University slang (c. 1830) for a "tutor" who "carries" one through an exam; the athletic sense is from 1861.
noun
coach (plural coaches)
A wheeled vehicle, generally pulled by a horse.
(rail transport, UK, Australia) A passenger car, either drawn by a locomotive or part of a multiple unit.
(originally Oxford University slang) A trainer or instructor.
(British, Australia) A long-distance, or privately hired, bus.
(nautical) The forward part of the cabin space under the poop deck of a sailing ship; the fore-cabin under the quarter deck.
(chiefly US) The part of a commercial passenger airplane or train reserved for those paying the lower standard fares; the economy section.
(chiefly US) The lower-fare service whose passengers sit in this part of the airplane or train; economy class.
Examples
Synonym: carriage
Synonym: carriage
The commanders all came on board and the council sat in the coach.
We couldn't afford the good tickets, so we spent the flight crammed in coach.
Related words
related terms
coachee
verb
coach (third-person singular simple present coaches, present participle coaching, simple past and past participle coached)
(intransitive, sports) To train.
(transitive) To instruct; to train.
(intransitive) To study under a tutor.
(intransitive) To travel in a coach (sometimes coach it).
(transitive) To convey in a coach.
Examples
She has coached many opera stars.
Affecting genteel fashions, coaching it to all quarters
The needy poet sticks to all he meets, Coached, carted, trod upon, now loose, now fast. And carried off in some dog's tail at last
adverb
coach (not comparable)
(chiefly US) Via the part of a commercial passenger airplane or train reserved for those paying the lower standard fares; via the economy section.
Examples
John flew coach to Vienna, but first-class back home.