copper

See also: Copper

English

WOTD – 9 February 2026
Chemical element
Cu
Previous: nickel (Ni)
Next: zinc (Zn)

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

The noun is inherited from Middle English coper, copper (“copper ore; copper metal; bronze”),[1] from Old English coper, copor (“copper”),[2] from Late Latin cuprum (“copper”), a contraction of Latin aes Cyprium (literally “Cyprian brass or copper”), ultimately from Ancient Greek Κῠ́προς (Kŭ́pros, “Cyprus”) (a major source of copper during the Near East’s Bronze Age),[3] from the name of a Northwest Semitic goddess from the root כ־ב־ר/ك ب ر (k b r) (“related to being big, large; great; or old”). Doublet of kobo.

The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun. The verb is also derived from the noun.[4]

cognates

Noun

copper (countable and uncountable, plural coppers)

  2. (uncountable, chemistry) A reddish-brown metallic chemical element (symbol Cu) with the atomic number 29; also, the metal made up of this element.
    Alternative form: Cu (symbol)
  3. (by extension)
    2. (uncountable) The reddish-brown colour of copper (etymology 1 sense 1).
      copper:  
      Coordinate terms: bronze, brass
      Near-synonyms: chestnut, russet
      2. (countable, entomology) In full copper butterfly: any of various lycaenid butterflies with copper-coloured upperwings, especially those of the genera Lycaena and Paralucia.
    3. (countable, dated) Any of various specialized items made of copper (etymology 1 sense 1), where the use of the metal is either necessary or traditional to the function of the item.
      • 1885 December, “Main Batteries”, in General Rules and Regulations Applicable to All Employes of the Chicago and Grand Trunk R[ailwa]y Company, Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee R’y, and Railways Operated by Them, Detroit, Mich.: General Offices [of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway Company, and Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway Company], →OCLC, page 33:
        Coppers are generally good for a year, if the battery is carefully attended; they should, however, be removed before they have increased to such a size that their removal might cause the destruction of the glass jars.
        Referring to the copper cathodes of batteries.
      • 1890 August, “Some Soldering Kinks”, in William H. Wahl, editor, The Manufacturer and Builder: A Practical Journal of Industrial Progress, volume XXII, number 8, New York, N.Y.: Henri Gerard, →OCLC, page 183, column 1:
        Every millwright should have some soldering tools, and he ought to know how to use them. […] Coppers weighing one pound each are the smallest ever needed in a paper mill, and one 2-pound copper should be bought also. […] Having made the solder and bought "coppers," the first job is to tin them. Some coppers come already tinned. I didn't buy mine, so they surely were not tinned.
      • 1907 April 20, J. C. Barclay, “Instructions for the Care of Callaud Batteries”, in Journal of the Telegraph, volume XL, number 646, New York, N.Y.: [Western Union Telegraph Company], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 37, columns 1–2:
        When new battery coppers are received, they should be placed where they will not be exposed to extreme heat, or to the sun, whether they are in a box or not. […] Coppers are not consumed, and their life depends largely on the manner in which they are used.
        Referring to the copper cathodes of batteries.
      1. (countable) A copper mug used for drinking alcoholic beverages.
        • 1812, [Maria] Edgeworth, “The Absentee. Chapter XIII.”, in Tales of Fashionable Life (2nd series), volume VI, London: […] [Heney] for J[oseph] Johnson and Co., […], →OCLC, page 238:
          [H]e slid down from his seat, and darted into the public house, reappearing in a few moments with a copper of ale and a horn in his hand: he and another man held open the horses' mouths, and poured the ale through the horn down their throats.
      2. (countable) A copper sheet on which an image or writing is engraved.
      3. (numismatics, countable) A coin, typically of a small denomination, originally made of copper and now chiefly of other metals such as bronze; specifically, an English or British penny or halfpenny; also, a United States cent; (uncountable) coins made of copper collectively.
        1. (countable, US, card games) In the game of faro: originally a copper coin, now usually a small disc or token, placed on a playing card to indicate that a player bets against that card.
      5. (Australia, UK, countable, dated) A large pot, originally made of copper but later often of iron, filled with water and heated over a fire for cooking, washing clothes, etc.
        Coordinate terms: kettle, pot, cookpot, cooking pot, cauldron, spider, tub
        Mum would heat the water in a copper in the kitchen and transfer it to the tin bath.
        Socks can’t be boiled up in the copper with the sheets and towels or they shrink.
        • 1697, William Dampier, chapter VII, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, pages 199–200:
          But the chiefeſt of their buſineſs vvas to get Coppers; for each Ship having novv ſo many Men, our Pots vvould not boil Victuals faſt enough, though vve kept them boiling all the day. About 2 or 3 days after they return aboard vvith 3 Coppers.
        • 1789, Le Pileur d’Apligny, “[Of the Dying of Cotton Thread.] Of Red.”, in [Jean] Hellot, [Pierre-Joseph] Macquer, Le Pileur d’Apligny, translated by [anonymous], The Art of Dying Wool, Silk, and Cotton. […], London: […] R. Baldwin, […], →OCLC, part III (The Art of Dying Cotton and Linen Thread together with the Method of Stamping Silks, Cottons, &c.), page 497:
          When the water in the copper boils, the arſenic and tartar, vvell pounded, is put into it, and kept boiling till the liquor is reduced to about half.
        • 1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XIV, in Peter Simple. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 224:
          [W]hat can you expect from officers who boil their 'tators in a cabbage-net hanging in the ship's coppers, when they know that there is one-third of a stove allowed them to cook their victuals on?
        • 1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], translated by H. L. Brækstad, Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 6:
          You had better mind you don't get up too early, and you mustn't put any fire under the copper before two o'clock.
        • 1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Death of the Curate”, in The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, book II (The Earth under the Martians), page 230:
          He rose to his knees, for he had been sitting in the darkness near the copper.
        • 1907, Barbara Baynton, “Human Toll. Chapter 13.”, in Sally Krimmer, Alan Lawson, editors, Barbara Baynton: Bush Studies, Other Stories, Human Toll, Verse Essays and Letters (Portable Australian Authors), St. Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, →ISBN, page 254:
          'Vot game now she play?' he asked himself, as he distinguished his wife near one of the pig-scalding coppers.
        • 2000, Christopher Christie, “Furnishing the Country House”, in The British Country House in the Eighteenth Century, Manchester; New York, N.Y.: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 266:
          The wet laundry's stove had a long vent in the ceiling which helped to release the steam from the coppers in which the clothes and bed linen were boiled.
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Sranan Tongo: kapa
Translations
See also
  • Appendix:Colors

Adjective

copper (comparative more copper, superlative most copper)

  1. Made of copper (etymology 1 sense 1).
    Synonym: (archaic or poetic) coppern
    • 1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Under Foot”, in The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, book II (The Earth under the Martians), page 198:
      Contrasting vividly with this ruin was the neat dresser, stained in the fashion, pale green, and with a number of copper and tin vessels below it, the wall-paper imitating blue and white tiles, and a couple of coolured supplements fluttering from the walls above the kitchen range.
  2. Having the reddish-brown colour of copper.
    Synonyms: coppery, copperish
Translations

Verb

copper (third-person singular simple present coppers, present participle coppering, simple past and past participle coppered) (transitive)

  1. To coat or sheathe (something) with copper (etymology 1 sense 1).
  2. To give (something) a colour by applying a copper salt.
  3. (dated) To give copper coins to (someone); to pay.
  4. (US, card games) In the game of faro: to place a copper coin, or now usually a small disc or token, on (a playing card) to indicate that a player bets against that card.
    1. (figurative) To bet against (something).
      • 1883, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “Uncle Mumford Unloads”, in Life on the Mississippi, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, →OCLC, page 304:
        [T]hey are going to take this whole Mississippi, and twist it around and make it run several miles up stream. […] [Y]ou have n't got to believe they can do such miracles, have you? And yet you ain't absolutely obliged to believe they can't. I reckon the safe way, where a man can afford it, is to copper the operation, and at the same time buy enough property in Vicksburg to square you up in case they win.
      • 1929 February 1, Dashiell Hammett, “A Black Knife”, in Red Harvest, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, published March 1931, →OCLC, page 95:
        The dive is off. Better copper your bets while there's time.
Translations

Etymology 2

The noun is probably derived from cop (“(informal, dated) to arrest or capture (someone)”) +‎ -er (suffix forming agent nouns), although cop is attested slightly later.[5]

The verb is derived from the noun.[6]

Noun

copper (plural coppers) (slang)

  1. (law enforcement)
    1. (chiefly Australia, UK) A police officer, especially one in uniform.
      Synonyms: constable, cop; see also Thesaurus:police officer
      • 1923, Edgar Wallace, chapter XIV, in The Missing Million, London: John Long, […], published 1927, →OCLC, pages 115–116:
        If you're caught by a copper, it's his job to pinch you, isn't it? You can hold him up with a gun, but he's got to come on, even if he gets killed. […] It's not fair on the coppers either; they've got their duty to do, and it's dirty to kill a man for doing his job.
      • 1929 February 1, Dashiell Hammett, “A New Deal”, in Red Harvest, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, published March 1931, →OCLC, page 124:
        A uniformed copper came in. The chief jerked a thumb at MacSwain and said: "Take this baby down cellar and let the wrecking crew work on him before you lock him up."
      • 1985 August 5, Shane MacGowan, “The Old Main Drag”, in Rum Sodomy & the Lash, performed by The Pogues, London; Universal City, Calif.: Stiff Records, →OCLC:
        One evening as I was lying down in Leicester Square / I was picked up by the coppers and kicked in the balls
    2. (US, dated or historical) Chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: a private detective or a security guard.
  2. (chiefly Australia, UK) An informer.
    1. A person working as an informer for the police; a nark
    2. A prisoner who informs on fellow prisoners.
Derived terms
  • cop (“police officer”)
Translations

Verb

copper (third-person singular simple present coppers, present participle coppering, simple past and past participle coppered) (law enforcement, slang)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (chiefly UK) To inform on (someone) to the police; to nark.
    2. (chiefly US, archaic) To arrest (someone).
  2. (intransitive, chiefly UK) To inform on someone to the police.
    • 1923, Edgar Wallace, chapter XXXVII, in The Missing Million, London: John Long, […], published 1927, →OCLC, page 211:
      "It's no use your staying here, because I'm not going to copper anybody," said the woman truculently. "My lodgers are respectable people; they keep themselves to themselves, and I keep myself to myself. […]"
Translations

Etymology 3

From cop (“ball of thread wound on to a spindle in a spinning machine”) +‎ -er (suffix denoting things relating to the words to which the suffix is attached to).[7]

Noun

copper (plural coppers)

  1. (spinning) A component of the cop (“conical ball of thread wound on to the spindle”) in a spinning machine.
Translations

References

  1. ^ “cō̆per, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Joseph Bosworth (1882), “copor, n.”, in T[homas] Northcote Toller, editor, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 166, column 1.
  3. ^ Compare “copper, n.1”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2025; “copper1, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  4. ^ “copper, v1”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2025; “copper1, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  5. ^ “copper, n.4”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2025; “copper2, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  6. ^ “copper, v.2”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2024.
  7. ^ “copper, n.3”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Further reading

Middle English

Noun

copper

  1. alternative form of coper
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