COULD
What does "COULD" mean?
Used to express past ability, possibility, permission, or a polite request.
Meanings
- The past tense of 'can', expressing ability or possibility in the past. When she was young she could run faster than anyone in her class.
- Used to express present possibility or a hesitant suggestion. It could rain later, so bring an umbrella.
- Used to make a polite request or offer. Could you pass the salt, please?
Did you know?
- The 'l' in 'could' is a spelling error frozen into the language - it was inserted around the 16th century to match 'would' and 'should', but 'could' never had an 'l' sound to begin with.
Word origin
From Old English 'cuthe', past tense of 'cunnan' (to be able, to know); the 'l' was added in the 1500s by mistaken analogy with 'would' and 'should', which do contain a historical 'l'.
Remember it
COULD, WOULD, SHOULD - the 'O-U-L-D' trio always travel together, even though 'could' borrowed its L from the other two.
A little poem
A small word holding all the doors I didn't open-
could have run, could have stayed, could have spoken.
The whole life I almost had lives in that token.
tercet
Wordplay
- I could tell you a joke about 'could', but it only works in the past tense.
What it teaches
Possibility is generous and cheap; what you actually do with 'could' is the only part that counts.
Quick facts
What does COULD mean?
Used to express past ability, possibility, permission, or a polite request.
Is COULD a valid word?
Yes — COULD is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is COULD?
COULD has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does COULD come from?
From Old English 'cuthe', past tense of 'cunnan' (to be able, to know); the 'l' was added in the 1500s by mistaken analogy with 'would' and 'should', which do contain a historical 'l'.
What can COULD teach us?
Possibility is generous and cheap; what you actually do with 'could' is the only part that counts.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.