copacetic English · revision 2067

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəʊ.pəˈsɛt.ɪk/ ''(UK)''; /ˌkoʊ.pəˈsɛt.ɪk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Suggested sources include Hebrew ''kol b'seder'' “all in order”, Italian, Louisiana French and Native American languages,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD) but none is accepted by scholars.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) It is said to have arisen in the speech of Black Americans in the South in the 19th century,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and its spread is often credited to the entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Fine, excellent, going just right (1919).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The meaning has stayed close to “very satisfactory, all right”.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The novelist John O'Hara thought it a Harlem and gangster corruption of an Italian word,^(AHD) and it was used by Black jazz musicians.^(AHD) The spelling varied widely (''copasetic'', ''copesetic'', ''kopasettee'') before settling.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1919 – fine, excellent.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Very satisfactory; fine; in excellent order.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}