coupé, four-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage that was based on the coach but was smaller and lighter in weight. While originally the word coupé described any cut-down coach body, it later became associated with a specific type of truncated coach body that came into general use in western Europe and America in the mid-18th century. A coupé usually contained one enclosed seat for two passengers and a higher, outside seat for a driver, although the largest model, the clarence, had two enclosed seats and accommodated four passengers. In the 20th century the name was given to the closed, two-door, two-passenger automobile.