Etymologically
Log in

cop

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 03:07. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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.
  • 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