coppersmith

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English copresmyth, also copresmythe,^[2][3][4] formed from Middle English coper + smyth.^[2][4][5][6] The first part, copper, goes back to Old English coper, from Proto-Germanic *kupar, from Late Latin cuprum, a contraction of Latin Cyprium (“Cyprian (metal)”), after the island of Cyprus;^[5] the second, smith, goes back to Old English smiþ (“a worker in metal”), from Proto-Germanic *smiþaz (“skilled worker”).^[5][7] The word is recorded as a surname before it is found as an ordinary noun: Richard Copersmid is named between 1212 and 1223, and Robert copersmith in the reign of Henry III.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A craftsman who works in copper: early 14th century in Etymonline,^[5] the 14th century in Merriam-Webster Unabridged,^[2] and 1327 in the Middle English Dictionary as cited by Reaney and Wilson, for a maker of copper utensils.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined a coppersmith as "one that manufactures copper", quoting Swift's lines on Salmoneus, "a mad coppersmith of Elis".^[10] Merriam-Webster Unabridged describes the trade as making kettles, coils, tubing and fittings from sheet copper and brass.^[2] From the mid 19th century the word also named a bird, the crimson-breasted barbet of South and Southeast Asia, from its ringing, metallic call;^[6][2][11] Hobson-Jobson notes that it was a popular name for the bird in Hindustani as well as in English.^[12]

Timeline

• early 14th century – a worker in copper.^[5][2] Reaney and Wilson cite the Middle English Dictionary for 1327.^[8]
• mid 19th century – the crimson-breasted barbet, named from its metallic call.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who makes things from copper or brass, such as kettles, pipes and fittings.^[2][11][6]
2. The crimson-breasted barbet, a bird of South and Southeast Asia known for its ringing, metallic call.^{[2][11][6][12]}

Related words

• copper
• smith
• blacksmith

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ a b c Reaney, P. H.; Wilson, R. M. (1991), A Dictionary of English Surnames, 3rd ed., London: Routledge
9. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter, eds. (2016), The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
12. ^ a b Yule, Henry; Burnell, A. C. (1903), Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, new ed. by William Crooke, London: John Murray