cop

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /kɒp/, US /kɑːp/^[1]

cop¹ catch; police officer

Etymology

The verb is of uncertain origin; it was northern British dialect.^[2][3] It is perhaps a variant of obsolete cap “to arrest” (1589), which is borrowed from Middle French caper (“to seize”), from Latin capere (“to take”);^[4][5][2] MWU and Etymonline suggest instead Dutch kapen “to take, steal”, from Old Frisian kāpia “to buy”, related to Old English cēapian (see cheap).^[6][2] The noun “police officer” is a shortening of copper, an agent noun from the verb, recorded from 1846.^[2][4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To seize, catch or capture: 1704.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a police officer, is from 1859, said to be originally thieves' slang, and first American.^[2][4][7] A capture or arrest, as in a fair cop, is a British sense.^[3][8] Cops and robbers is from 1900, and cop-shop, a police station, from 1941.^[2] Cop a plea, to plead guilty to a lesser charge, is from about 1925;^[4] the noun cop-out is from 1942, and the verb cop out, to withdraw, from about 1967.^[4] To get or buy illegal drugs is a later slang sense.^[8]

Timeline

• 1704 – to catch.^[2]
• 1846 – copper, a police officer.^[2]
• 1859 – cop, a police officer.^[2]
• c. 1925 – cop a plea.^[4]
• 1942 – cop-out.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (informal) A police officer.
2. (British, informal) An arrest: it's a fair cop.

Verb

1. (slang) To catch or seize; to get.
2. (slang) To steal.
3. (cop it, British slang) To be punished or get into trouble.

cop² top; roll of thread

Etymology

The noun “top, summit” is inherited from Middle English cop, inherited from Old English copp (“top, summit”),^[6][9] perhaps akin to Norwegian dialect kup “humpback”.^[6] The SOED says its origin is unknown and that several words may be represented, and Etymonline relates Old English cop to the source of cup.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The top or summit of anything: before 1000.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The top of a hill is from about 1374, and the head from about 1264.^[9] A conical heap of hay or barley is dialect from the early 16th century, and a conical roll of thread wound on a spindle followed.^[3][10]

Timeline

• before 1000 – a summit.^[9]
• c. 1374 – the top of a hill.^[9]
• early 16th century – a conical heap.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A cone-shaped roll of thread wound on a spindle.
2. (dialect) The top or crest of a hill.

Related words

• copper
• cop-out
• cop out

Usage notes

Cop, a spider, is a dialect shortening of attercop.^[3]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin