cooper English · revision 6693

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=late 14th century|origins=la cupa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkuːpə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkupɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English couper, cowper, probably [[bor|dum|cūper]] or [[m|gml|kūper]],^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|dum|cūpe|t=cask, tub, vat]], from [[la|cūpa|t=cask]] (see [[coop]] and [[cup]]);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline allows an unrecorded Old English word,^(Etymonline) and Barnhart treats it as an early borrowing of Latin [[m|la|cūpārius]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A craftsman who makes casks and tubs: the late 14th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) before 1376 as coupere in a version of ''Piers Plowman'' in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1415 in the OED.^(OED 1989) As a surname, Cupere, it is from 1176.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A wine merchant or one who samples and bottles wine is from 1465,^(OED 1989) and a ship's cooper, who repairs casks on board, from 1627.^(OED 1989) The OED distinguishes the dry cooper, who makes casks for dry goods, the wet cooper, for liquids, and the white cooper, for pails and dairy tubs.^(Etymonline) In London a mixture of stout and porter was called cooper (1871).^(OED 1989) The verb, to make or mend casks, is from 1746.^(Etymonline) The surname Cowper, pronounced ''cooper'', keeps a 15th-century spelling.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1176 – Cupere, as a surname.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – a maker of casks.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1465 – a wine merchant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1746 – the verb.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1871 – stout and porter mixed.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who makes or repairs [[barrel|alt=barrels]], [[cask|alt=casks]] and tubs.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or repair barrels and casks.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cooperage]]

+ * [[uncoopered]]

+ * [[coopery]]

+ * [[undercooper]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coop]]

+ * [[cup]]

+ * [[cupola]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ MWU also has an unrelated cooper, a ship selling liquor to fishermen at sea, probably from Dutch [[m|nl|kooper|t=buyer]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}