copier

Forms

copier^[1] Early spellings coppiier and coppier.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin copiō (“to reproduce a writing”), formed from cōpia (“abundance”).^[2][3][1] Other dictionaries derive it from French copie: the Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and Littré simply from the noun, the GLLF from the noun under the influence of the Medieval Latin verb.^[4][5][6][7] Bloch and Wartburg list the verb as a derivative of the noun, and think that the noun's modern sense may itself come from the Latin verb, the noun being taken as its verbal noun.^[8] The senses of imitation grew in French alongside the matching senses of the noun.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1339 in a cartulary from Arras: parkemin pour les comptes faire et coppiier (“parchment for drawing up and copying the accounts”).^[2] The Anglo-Norman copier “to copy” is found in 1304–1305.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Like copie, the verb spread widely in the 17th century: it was used for reproducing a work of art (1636), for imitating another's work (1658) or a person's manners (1656), and, in the classical theory of imitation, for imitating nature (1694).^[2][3] In Middle French coppier could also mean “to mimic in mockery”, at first a word of Anjou, and the derivative copieur meant “mocker” until the 16th century.^[3][6] The school sense of copying another's work to cheat is recorded by Littré in 1863.^[2][3][7] In computing, copier-coller names the copying of a text or image and pasting it elsewhere.^[3]

Timeline

• 1304–1305 – The Anglo-Norman copier “to copy” is recorded.^[9]
• 1339 – Coppiier appears in a cartulary from Arras.^[2]
• 1362 – The derivative recopier is recorded.^[8]
• 1636 – Monet records the sense “reproduce a work of art”.^[2][7]
• 1656 – Pascal uses it for imitating a person's manners.^[2][3]
• 1658 – Pascal uses it for imitating another's work.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records “imitate nature exactly”.^[2][3]
• 1863 – Littré records the schoolboy's “copy fraudulently”.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To copy out, reproduce a piece of writing: copier une lettre au propre.^[5][2]
2. To copy fraudulently, to cheat by copying a book or a classmate's work.^[5][7]
3. To reproduce a work of art: copier une gravure.^[6][2]
4. To imitate an author's or artist's style, or to plagiarize.^[5][6]
5. To imitate a person's manners, voice or gestures.^[6][2]
6. (computing) To copy data: copier-coller “copy and paste”.^[3]
7. (familiar) Tu me la copieras !: I won't forget that one, they won't catch me again.^[5][7]

Word family

• recopier
• copiste
• copieur
• copier-coller

Related words

• copie
• copieux
• Latin cōpia

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)