A coupé (US coupe) (from the French past participle coupé, of the infinitive couper, to cut) is a closed two-door car body style with a permanently attached fixed roof, that is shorter than a sedan or saloon (British and Irish English) of the same model, and it often has seating for two persons or with a tight-spaced rear seat. The precise definition of the term varies between manufacturers and over time. The term was first applied to 19th-century carriages, where the rear-facing seats had been eliminated, or cut out.