copil

Romanian

Alternative forms

• копил (copil) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Formerly ‘bastard’, probably from Proto-Slavic *kopylъ (“shoot, sprout; bastard”) (compare Ukrainian копил (kopyl) or копиля (kopylja), Serbo-Croatian копиле (kȍpile), Bulgarian ко́пеле (kópele)), from *kopàti (“to dig, cultivate”). Also borrowed into Albanian kopil, Byzantine Greek κόπελος (kópelos). Alternatively an old ultimately paleo-Balkan substrate word. Compare Aromanian cochil, Megleno-Romanian copil (“bastard”), cupilaș (“child”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koˈpil/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -il
• Hyphenation: co‧pil

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

copil m (plural copii, feminine equivalent copilă)

1. child

   Am doi copii.

   I have two children.

Declension

Declension of copil

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) copil	copilul	(niște) copii	copiii
genitive/dative	(unui) copil	copilului	(unor) copii	copiilor
vocative	copilule		copiilor

Derived terms

• copilărie
• copilaș

References

• copil in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)