Coaches

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People who train athletes or sports teams ; large vehicles designed to carry many passengers over long distances ; to teach or train individuals or groups to improve skills or performance
2. Individuals responsible for guiding or preparing players in physical activities ; buses built for comfortable group travel ; the act of providing instruction or guidance to help someone learn
3. Experts who help athletes or teams develop abilities ; motor vehicles used to transport passengers comfortably ; the process of mentoring or training people to enhance their capabilities

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "coaches" is that the word for a horse-drawn carriage and the word for a sports trainer began as the same thing. The vehicle took its name from Kocs, a small Hungarian town that made its living building carts and carrying traffic between Vienna and Budapest. Its name was clipped from "kocsi szekér," meaning cart from Kocs. The Hungarian word passed into German as "Kutsche" and then into French as "coche," and English borrowed it in that French form. The sporting sense came much later and by a roundabout route. At Oxford University, slang of about 1830 used "coach" for a tutor who "carried" a student through an examination, and the athletic sense of training a team followed in 1861. The idea is the same as the carriage: someone who takes you somewhere you could not reach alone.

Synonyms: trainers, mentors

Antonyms: students, mentees