Couchée

Couchée is the feminine form of the past participle couché, used in French as an adjective or predicative descriptor meaning lying down or placed horizontally. It agrees with feminine-noun subjects, with couché used for masculine subjects and couchées for feminine plural. In ordinary speech, you will hear phrases such as elle est couchée or la femme couchée sur le lit to describe someone who is asleep or resting in a reclining position.

In medical and clinical contexts, couchée appears in notes and descriptions to indicate a patient’s horizontal position. A common construction is la patiente est couchée. For more technical terminology, terms such as décubitus dorsal (lying on the back) or décubitus latéral (lying on the side) are used to specify the exact position, but couchée remains a general, everyday way to express that someone is in a lying-down posture.

Etymology and grammar: couchée is the feminine past participle of coucher, formed to agree with feminine nouns. The masculine equivalent is couché, and the plural forms are couchées (feminine) and couché(s) (masculine).

Usage notes: couchée is primarily used as an adjective or in predicative position. As a noun, couchée is rare and archaic; for the concept of sleeping or bedding, standard nouns such as couche or couchage are more common.

See also: couché, couchage, décubitus, position.