coach

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun (sports) someone in charge of training an athlete or a team
  2. noun a person who gives private instruction (as in singing, acting, etc.)
  3. noun a railcar where passengers ride

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

manager, handler

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