kopje

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From (South African) Dutch kopje, diminutive of kop (head).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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kopje (plural kopjes)

  1. (South Africa) A small hill or mound, especially on the African veld.
    • 1883 June, Ralph Iron [pseudonym; Olive Schreiner], “Shadows from Child-life. The Watch.”, in The Story of an African Farm, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: H. M. Caldwell Company, →OCLC, part I, page 9:
      In one spot only was the solemn monotony of the plain broken. Near the center a small solitary “kopje” rose. Alone it lay there, a heap of round ironstones piled one upon the other, as over some giant’s grave.
    • 1900 December – 1901 August, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Prospecting Begins”, in The First Men in the Moon, London: George Newnes, [], published 1901, →OCLC, page 105:
      We selected a lichenous kopje perhaps fifteen yards away, and landed neatly on its summit one after the other.
    • 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther, published 1974, page 8:
      Martha looked over a mile or so of bush to a strip of pink ploughed land; […] and then, ridge after ridge, fold after fold, the bush stretched to a line of blue kopjes.
    • 1978, André Brink, Rumours of Rain, Vintage, published 2000, page 72:
      On the koppie behind the village, the unsightly red-and-white skeleton of an FM tower.

References

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  • Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition (1997)

Afrikaans

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Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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kopje (plural kopjes)

  1. (archaic) Alternative form of koppie

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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kopje n (plural kopjes)

  1. diminutive of kop

Noun

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kopje n (plural kopjes)

  1. (of cats) an act of rubbing one's face on someone or something to spread pheromones

Lower Sorbian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Slavic *kopьje. Cognate with Upper Sorbian kopjo.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkɔpʲɛ/, [ˈkɔpʲə]

Noun

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kopje n inan (diminutive kopjecko)

  1. spear, javelin, lance, pike

Inflection

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Further reading

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  • Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “koṕe”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
  • Starosta, Manfred (1999) “kopje”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Slovene

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Etymology

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From Proto-Slavic *kopьje.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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kọ́pje n

  1. javelin

Inflection

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The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
Neuter, soft
nom. sing. kópje
gen. sing. kópja
singular dual plural
nominative
(imenovȃlnik)
kópje kópji kópja
genitive
(rodȋlnik)
kópja kópij kópij
dative
(dajȃlnik)
kópju kópjema kópjem
accusative
(tožȋlnik)
kópje kópji kópja
locative
(mẹ̑stnik)
kópju kópjih kópjih
instrumental
(orọ̑dnik)
kópjem kópjema kópji

Further reading

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  • kopje”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran