coup de grâce

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 25, 2006 is: coup de grâce • \koo-duh-GRAHSS\ • noun 1 : a deathblow or death shot administered to end the suffering of one mortally wounded 2 : a decisive finishing blow, act, or event Examples: Paul's team led throughout the game, but the coup de grace was his three-run homer in the eighth inning. Did you know? Borrowed directly from French and first appearing in English at the end of the 17th century, "coup de grâce" (literally, a "stroke of grace" or "blow of mercy") originally referred to a mercy killing, or the act of putting to death a person or animal who was severely injured and unlikely to recover. (In some contexts the term is used to refer to the final act of executing a convicted criminal.) Less than fifty years later, "coup de grâce" had come to mean "an act or event that puts a definite end to something." Other "coup" terms that have made the jump from French to English include "coup de main," for a sudden, forceful attack, and "coup d'état" for a violent overthrow of a government usually by a small group. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.