copper

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English[edit]

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Copper in its natural state.
Chemical element
Cu Previous: nickel (Ni)
Next: zinc (Zn)

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English coper, from Old English coper, copor ‎(“copper”), from Late Latin cuprum ‎(“copper”), contraction of Latin aes Cyprium ‎(literally “Cyprian brass”), from Ancient Greek Κύπρος ‎(Kúpros, “Cyprus”). Cognate with Dutch koper ‎(“copper”), German Kupfer ‎(“copper”), Icelandic kopar ‎(“copper”).

Noun[edit]

copper ‎(countable and uncountable, plural coppers)

  1. (uncountable) a reddish-brown, malleable, ductile metallic element with high electrical and thermal conductivity, symbol Cu, and atomic number 29.
  2. (countable) Something made of copper.
  3. The reddish-brown colour/color of copper.
    copper colour:    
  4. (countable) A copper coin.
    • Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
      My friends filled my pockets with coppers.
    • 1909, Archibald Marshall, The Squire's Daughter, chapterII:
      "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 few coppers by—except steal. […]."
  5. (Britain, archaic) 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 a copper in the kitchen and transfer it to the tin bath.‎
    I explain that socks can’t be boiled up in the copper with the sheets and towels or they shrink.‎
    • 1797, Dyeing, article in Colin Macfarquhar, George Gleig (editors), Encyclopædia Britannica: or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, Volume 6, Part 1 p.207:
      When the water in the copper boils, the arsenic and tartar, well pounded, is put into it, and kept boiling till the liquor is reduced to about half.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from copper
Related terms[edit]
Related terms
Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

copper ‎(comparative more copper, superlative most copper)

  1. Made of copper.
  2. Having the reddish-brown colour/color of copper.
    • Coleridge
      All in a hot and copper sky,
      The bloody Sun, at noon,
      Right up above the mast did stand,
      No bigger than the Moon.
Synonyms[edit]
  • (made of copper): coppern
  • (having the colour/color of copper): coppery
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

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

  1. To sheathe or coat with copper.
Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Items relating to subject of copper

Etymology 2[edit]

From cop ‎(“to take, capture”, verb) +‎ -er ‎(“agent suffix”)

Noun[edit]

copper ‎(plural coppers)

  1. (slang, law enforcement) A police officer.
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

External links[edit]

  • copper Barthelmy, David (accessed 29 August 2016) Webmineral Mineralogy Database[1]
  • copper mindat.org[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed 29 August 2016
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