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copper

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:Copper

English

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EnglishWikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Chemical element
Cu
Previous:nickel (Ni)
Next:zinc (Zn)
Copper in its natural state.

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Inherited fromMiddle Englishcoper, fromOld Englishcoper,copor(“copper”), fromLate Latincuprum(“copper”), contraction ofLatinaesCyprium(literally“Cyprian brass”), fromAncient GreekΚύπρος(Kúpros,“Cyprus”). Cognate withDutchkoper(“copper”),GermanKupfer(“copper”),Icelandickopar(“copper”).

Noun

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copper (countable anduncountable,pluralcoppers)

  2. (uncountable) A reddish-brown,malleable,ductilemetallicelement with highelectrical andthermalconductivity, symbol Cu, and atomic number 29.
  3. Thereddish-browncolour /color of copper.
    copper: 
  4. (countable, dated) Any of various specialized items that are made of copper, where the use of copper is either traditional or vital to the function of the item.
    • 1885,General Rules and Regulations Applicable to All Employes of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway Company:
      Coppers are generally good for a year, if the battery is carefully attended[…]
    • 1890,The Manufacturer and Builder, volume22, page83:
      Somecoppers come already tinned. I didn't buy mine, so they surely were not tinned.
    • 1907, “Instructions for the Care of Callaud Batteries”, inJournal of the Telegraph, volume XL:
      Coppers are not consumed, and their life depends largely on the manner in which they are used.
    1. (countable) A coppercoin, typically of a smalldenomination, such as apenny.
      • 1799,Benjamin Franklin, edited by John Bigelow,The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, published1868,page255:
        I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give thecoppers.
      • 1909,Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, inThe Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.:Dodd, Mead and Company, published1919,→OCLC:
        "I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a fewcoppers by—except steal. […]."
    2. (UK, Australia, dated) A large pot, often used for heating water or washing clothes over a fire. In Australasia at least, it could also be a fixed installation made of copper, with a fire underneath and its own chimney. Generally made redundant by the advent of the washing machine.
      Mum would heat the water in acopper in the kitchen and transfer it to the tin bath.
      I explain that socks can’t be boiled up in thecopper with the sheets and towels or they shrink.
      • 1797, “Dyeing”, in Colin Macfarquhar, George Gleig, editors,Encyclopædia Britannica: or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, Volume 6, Part 1p.207:
        When the water in thecopper boils, the arsenic and tartar, well pounded, is put into it, and kept boiling till the liquor is reduced to about half.
      • 1886,Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad,Folk and Fairy Tales, page 6:
        'You had better mind you don't get up too early, and you mustn't put any fire under thecopper before two o'clock.'
      • 1898,H.G. Wells,The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page230:
        He rose to his knees, for he had been sitting in the darkness near thecopper.
      • 1907,Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson,Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published1980, page254:
        'Vot game now she play?' he asked himself, as he distinguished his wife near one of the pig-scaldingcoppers.
      • 2000, Christopher Christie,The British Country House in the Eighteenth Century, page266:
        The wet laundry's stove had a long vent in the ceiling which helped to release the steam from thecoppers in which the clothes and bed linen were boiled.
  6. (entomology) Any of variouslycaenid butterflies with copper-coloured upperwings, especially those of the generaLycaena andParalucia.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Related terms
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Translations
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chemical element Cu
something made of copper
colour of copper
copper coin
large pot for hot water
butterfly

Adjective

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copper (comparativemorecopper,superlativemostcopper)

  1. Made of copper.
  2. Having the reddish-brown colour/color of copper.
    • 1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, inLyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published1798,→OCLC:
      All in a hot andcopper sky, / The bloody Sun, at noon, / Right up above the mast did stand, / No bigger than the Moon.
    • 1999, Maria M. Gillan,Things My Mother Told Me, page38:
      She seemed so alive, with her shining eyes and hercopper hair and her jokes and funny stories, but there was always a mystery at the center of her life, the sound of wild sobbing my mother said she heard coming through the floor.
Synonyms
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  • (made of copper):coppern(archaic)
  • (having the colour/color of copper):coppery
Translations
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made of copper
having the colour of copper

Verb

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copper (third-person singular simple presentcoppers,present participlecoppering,simple past and past participlecoppered)

  1. To sheathe or coat with copper.
Translations
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sheathe or coat in copper

See also

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Etymology 2

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Fromcop(“to take, capture, seize”) +‎-er(agent noun suffix).

Noun

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copper (pluralcoppers)

  1. (slang, law enforcement) Apolice officer.
    Synonyms:police officer,constable,cop;see alsoThesaurus:police officer
Derived terms
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Related terms
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Translations
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slang: policeman

Further reading

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  • David Barthelmy (1997–2025) “Copper”, inWebmineral Mineralogy Database.
  • "copper" inMindat.org, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2021.

Middle English

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Noun

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copper

  1. Alternative form ofcoper
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