The noun is inherited from Middle English coper, copper (“copper ore; copper metal; bronze”), from Old English coper, copor (“copper”), 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), 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. cognates * Dutch koper (“copper”) * German Kupfer (“copper”) * Icelandic kopar (“copper”)
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A reddish-brown metallic chemical element (symbol Cu) with the atomic number 29; also, the metal made up of this element.
Men talke much […] of the Philoſophers ſtone, that it turneth copper into gold; […]1611, [Miles Smith], “The Translators to the Reader”, in The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC:
Through the clear smooth water her copper shone brightly; […]1836, [Frederick] Marryat, “The Pirate. Chapter VII. Sleeper's Bay.”, in The Pirate, and The Three Cutters. […], London: […] Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, →OCLC, page 61:
2 more examples
In the Siberian Traps crustal contamination of mantle magmas is seen to cause the segregation of large volumes of sulfide, which host giant deposits of nickel, copper, and platinum group metals in associated intrusions.2015, Peter R. Hooper, “Flood Basalt Provinces”, in Haraldur Sigurdsson, editor, Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, 2nd edition, San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, →ISBN, part II (Eruption), page 355, column 2:
[Donald] Trump's July 8 announcement of a 50% tariff on copper imports beginning August 1 sent prices surging 13% in one day, up to a record high of $5.69 per pound.2025 July 17, John Towfighi, “Copper Prices have Surged to Record Highs – and They could Jump Higher. Here’s Why”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 05 Feb 2026:
2
Broadly The reddish-brown colour of copper (etymology 1, noun sense 1).
Near-synonyms: chestnut, russet
3
Biology, Entomology, Natural sciencesBroadly In full copper butterfly: any of various lycaenid butterflies with copper-coloured upperwings, especially those of the genera Lycaena and Paralucia.
4
Broadly, Dated Any of various specialized items made of copper (etymology 1, noun sense 1), where the use of the metal is either necessary or traditional to the function of the item.
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.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:
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.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:
1 more example
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.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:
5
Broadly, Dated A copper mug used for drinking alcoholic beverages.
[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.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:
6
Broadly, Dated A copper sheet on which an image or writing is engraved.
[H]e went to sleep, taking first out of his pocket a book,[…]. It proved to be my old favorite author, [John] Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in Dutch, finely printed on good paper, with copper cuts, a dress better than I had ever seen it wear in its own language.1771–1790, Benjamin Franklin, “The Autobiography [Part 1]”, in John Bigelow, editor, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott & Co., published 1868, →OCLC, pages 107–108:
7
Hobbies, Lifestyle, NumismaticsBroadly, Dated 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.
Light VVenches may proue plagues to men forſ[w]orne, / If ſo our Copper byes no better treaſure.c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], signature F3, verso:
I remember the time when rascally company were kept out, and the unlucky boys with toys and balls were whipped away by a beadle. I have seen this done indeed of late, but then it has been only to chase away the lads from chuck, that the beadle might seize their copper.1712 October 24 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “MONDAY, October 14, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 509; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 501:
3 more examples
I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he [the preacher George Whitefield] proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers. […] [H]e finish'd so admirably, that I empty'd my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all.1771–1790, Benjamin Franklin, “The Autobiography [Part 3]”, in John Bigelow, editor, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott & Co., published 1868, →OCLC, page 255:
[O]ne feels a difficulty in offering a princess the change for a shilling in coppers.1876, [Walter Besant, James Rice], chapter V, in The Golden Butterfly. […], volume III, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 83:
"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.[…]."1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “In the Bay of Biscay”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC, page 16:
› Any of various specialized items made of… › A coin, typically of a small denomination…
8
Card games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, NumismaticsUS, Broadly, Dated 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.
› Any of various specialized items made of…
9
Australia, UK, Broadly, 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.
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.
4 more examples
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.1697, William Dampier, chapter VII, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, pages 199–200:
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.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:
[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?1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XIV, in Peter Simple. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 224:
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.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:
The noun is inherited from Middle English coper, copper (“copper ore; copper metal; bronze”), from Old English coper, copor (“copper”), 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), 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. cognates * Dutch koper (“copper”) * German Kupfer (“copper”) * Icelandic kopar (“copper”)
1
Made of copper (etymology 1, noun sense 1).
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.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:
2
Having the reddish-brown colour of copper.
All in a hot and copper sky, / The bloody Sun, at noon, / Right up above the mast did stand, / No bigger than the Moon.1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published 1798, →OCLC:
Cold and terror had produced a chance in her complexion, which now wore a yellow, or sort of copper hue.1836, [Frederick] Marryat, “The Pirate. Chapter I. The Bay of Biscay.”, in The Pirate, and The Three Cutters. […], London: […] Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, →OCLC, page 4:
1 more example
She seemed so alive, with her shining eyes and her copper 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.1999, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, “Zia Concetta and Her Whalebone Corset”, in Things My Mother Told Me, Toronto, Ont.: Guernica Editions, →ISBN, page 38:
copper
verb
Etymology
The noun is inherited from Middle English coper, copper (“copper ore; copper metal; bronze”), from Old English coper, copor (“copper”), 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), 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. cognates * Dutch koper (“copper”) * German Kupfer (“copper”) * Icelandic kopar (“copper”)
1
To coat or sheathe (something) with copper (etymology 1, noun sense 1).
2
To give (something) a colour by applying a copper salt.
Card games, GamesUS 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.
[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.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:
The dive is off. Better copper your bets while there's time.1929 February 1, Dashiell Hammett, “A Black Knife”, in Red Harvest, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, published March 1931, →OCLC, page 95:
copper
noun
Etymology 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. The verb is derived from the noun.
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.1923, Edgar Wallace, chapter XIV, in The Missing Million, London: John Long, […], published 1927, →OCLC, pages 115–116:
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."1929 February 1, Dashiell Hammett, “A New Deal”, in Red Harvest, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, published March 1931, →OCLC, page 124:
1 more example
One evening as I was lying down in Leicester Square / I was picked up by the coppers and kicked in the balls1985 August 5, Shane MacGowan, “The Old Main Drag”, in Rum Sodomy & the Lash, performed by The Pogues, London; Universal City, Calif.: Stiff Records, →OCLC:
I went to the phone and asked the girl to send the house copper [of the hotel] up.1929 February 1, Dashiell Hammett, “A Tip on Kid Cooper”, in Red Harvest, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, published March 1931, →OCLC, page 83:
› An informer.
3
Australia, UK, Slang A person working as an informer for the police; a nark
4
Australia, UK, Slang A prisoner who informs on fellow prisoners.
Etymology 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. The verb is derived from the noun.
"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.[…]"1923, Edgar Wallace, chapter XXXVII, in The Missing Million, London: John Long, […], published 1927, →OCLC, page 211:
copper
noun
Etymology 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).
1
Government, Hobbies, Law enforcement, Lifestyle, Spinning, SportsSlang A component of the cop (“conical ball of thread wound on to the spindle”) in a spinning machine.