copy

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkɒp.i/, US /ˈkɑː.pi/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English copie,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French copie,^[4][2] from Medieval Latin copia (“reproduction, transcript”),^[4][2] from Latin cōpia (“plenty, abundance; ability, opportunity”),^[4][2][5] from com- (“with”) and ops (“power, wealth”),^[4] from Proto-Indo-European *op- (“to work, produce in abundance”).^[4] The sense “transcript” arose in Medieval Latin phrases such as copiam describendi facere “to give permission to transcribe”, whence “right of reproduction” and then simply “reproduction”.^[5][2][6] The verb is from Old French copier and Medieval Latin copiāre “to transcribe”.^[4][3] It is related to copious.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A transcript of a writing: about 1330 in the OED,^[7] before 1338 in Mannyng's Chronicle in Barnhart (as “a written record”),^[2] and the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Latin sense “abundance” was also used in English from about 1375 to the 17th century,^[7][5] and Trench explains that the only way to obtain abundance of a document was to take copies of it.^[8] Any reproduction or imitation is from the late 14th century,^[4] and a picture reproducing another from 1580.^[7] In the 15th century the word extended to any specimen of writing, especially a manuscript given to a printer to set in type, as in Caxton.^[4] One of a set of printed reproductions is from the 1530s.^[4] The verb, “to transcribe”, is from 1387,^[7] “to imitate” from the 1640s,^[4] of computer data by 1953,^[4] and “to send a copy to a third party” from 1983.^[4][7] Copy-editor is from 1889, and copyright from the 18th century.^[4][5]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – a transcript.^[7]
• c. 1375 – abundance (obsolete).^[7]
• 1387 – verb, to transcribe.^[7]
• late 15th century – text for the printer.^[4]
• 1530s – one of a set of copies.^[4]
• 1640s – verb, to imitate.^[4]
• 1889 – copy-editor.^[4]
• 1953 – of computer data.^[4]
• 1983 – to copy someone in.^[4][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A reproduction or imitation of an original; a duplicate.
2. One example of a book, newspaper or other printed work.
3. Text prepared for printing; the words of an advertisement.
4. Material suitable for a newspaper story.

Verb

1. To make a copy of.
2. To follow as a model; to imitate.
3. To send a copy of a message to.

Word family

• copyable
• copybook
• copygirl
• copyholder
• copyist
• copyright
• miscopy

Related words

• copious
• cornucopia
• opulent
• opera

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker