couper

to cut, cut up; to chop, to sever; to cut, to clip, to trim; to cut off, to keep out, to bar; to take away; to stop, prevent

“J'ai besoin de me faire couper les cheveux.” — I need to get my hair cut.

Inherited from Old French coper, colper (“to cut off”), probably, derived from cop (“blow”), colp (modern coup), with its meaning coming from the idea of cutting off with a blow. It may correspond to a Vulgar Latin verb *colpāre, syncopated form of *colaphāre, from Latin colaphus (compare Old Spanish golpar, colpar, Old Galician-Portuguese golpar, golbar). Alternatively, possibly from Vulgar Latin *cuppāre (“to behead”), from Latin caput (“head”), although this is unlikely. Not related to coutea