Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A ductile, malleable, reddish-brown metallic element that is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity and is widely used for electrical wiring, water piping, and corrosion-resistant parts, either pure or in alloys such as brass and bronze. Atomic number 29; atomic weight 63.54; melting point 1,083°C; boiling point 2,595°C; specific gravity 8.96; valence 1, 2. See Table at element.
- n. A coin, usually of small denomination, made of copper or a copper alloy.
- n. Chiefly British A large cooking pot made of copper or often of iron.
- n. Any of various small butterflies of the subfamily Lycaeninae, having predominantly copper-colored wings.
- n. A reddish brown.
- v. To coat or finish with a layer of copper.
- v. Slang To bet against, as in faro.
- n. Slang A police officer.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Chemical symbol, Cu; atomic weight, 63.3. A metal distinguished from all others by its peculiar red Color. Its crystalline form is that of the cube or regular octahedron (isometric). Its specific gravity is nearly nine times that of water (8.838 native copper, 8.958 electrotype copper). Among the metals in common use, it stands next to gold and silver in malleability and ductility, and next to iron and steel in tenacity. Its melting-point is a little below that of gold and considerably above that of silver. Copper is one of the most widely diffused metals, and occurs in the native state, as well as in a great variety of sulphureted and oxidized combinations. Native copper is not unfrequently met with in the superficial portions of cupriferous lodes, but usually only in small amount. In two regions, however, this metal is mined exclusively in the native state: namely, the south shore of Lake Superior, and Corocoro in Bolivia; but of the two the former is by far the more important, and produces about one sixth of the total yield of the world. In the Lake Superior region the copper occurs in regular fissure-veins, and also in a conglomerate of volcanic origin, forming the cement by which the pebbles are held together. In the flssure-veins large masses of native copper have frequently been found, one such mass weighing over three hundred tons. Most of the copper of the world, previous to the opening of this region, was produced from ores consisting of combinations of the metal with certain mineralizers, such as sulphur and oxygen, and especially sulphur. The most abundant ore is the so-called “yellow copper ore” or copper pyrites, the chalcopyrite of the mineralogist, which is composed of copper, iron, and sulphur, and contains, when chemically pure, 34.6 per cent. of copper. The total copper-production of the world for the year 1886 may be estimated at 215,000 tons, of which the United States produced about one third; it had increased rapidly within the preceding twenty-live years. The copper of the United States comes chiefly from Lake Superior, Arizona, and Montana. Spain, Chili, Prussia, and Australia are other large producers of this metal. Copper has been known from the remotest ages, and was mined extensively on Lake Superior before the advent of Europeans. Its uses are manifold. The most important of them was, before the very general use of iron in ship-building, as a sheathing metal, first by itself, and later as a part of the alloy called
yellow metal , a variety of brass. On account of its electric conductivity, copper is largely used for induction-coils and all kinds of electrical apparatus, and for the cores of telegraph-cables. For these uses very pure copper is required; a slight admixture of iron greatly increases its electrical resistance. For domestic purposes copper is made up in a great variety of forms, either by itself, or tinned in order to prevent corrosion by acid liquids. The electrotyping process depends on the deposition by the galvanic current of pure copper from a solution of one of its salts, the metal deposited forming an exact reproduction in copper of an object suspended for that purpose in the bath. The alloys of copper are of great importance, and one of them, bronze, is of high antiquity. The salts of copper are also numerous, and are invaluable in the arts. Copper sulphate, or blue vitriol, is largely used in calico-printing, in electro-metallurgy, and in the preparation of the copper pigments Scheele's green, Schweinfurt green, and Paris green, the latter being much used as an insecticide, principally for the Colorado potato-beetle. See brass, bronze, and yellow metal (under metal). - n. A vessel made of copper, particularly a large boiler; specifically, in the plural, the large kettles or boilers in a ship's galley for boiling food for the ship's company. These boilers were formerly of copper, but are now usually of iron. The boilers used in various manufacturing operations, though frequently of other metals still often retain the name copper.
- n. Hence plural The mouth, throat, and stomach, as the receptacle and digester of food. See hot coppers, below.
- n. A copper coin; a penny; a cent; collectively, copper money; small change.
- n. In faro, a check, small disk like a coin, or other convenient object, used to copper with. See copper, v., 2.
- n. plural Copper butterflies. See butterfly.
- n. A reel used by wire-drawers to wind wire upon.
- Consisting of or resembling copper.
- To cover or sheathe with sheets of copper: as, to copper a ship.
- In faro, to place a copper (cent) or other token upon (a card), to indicate that the player wishes to bet against that card; bet against: as, to copper a card; to copper a bet.
- n. The plate of copper which contains or is intended to contain on its surface the engraved or etched design prepared for printing.
- To coat with copper: as, to copper type; also, to color by means of a salt of copper: as, to copper pickles, etc., in order to make them a bright-green color.
- n. A policeman. See cop.
Wiktionary
- n. slang, law enforcement A policeman.
- n. uncountable a reddish-brown, malleable, ductile metallic element with high electrical and thermal conductivity, symbol Cu, and atomic number 29.
- n. countable Something made of copper.
- n. The reddish-brown colour/color of copper.
- n. countable A copper coin.
- n. UK, archaic A large pot, often used for heating water or washing clothes over a fire.
- adj. Made of copper.
- adj. Having the reddish-brown colour/color of copper.
- v. To sheathe or coat with copper.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A common metal of a reddish color, both ductile and malleable, and very tenacious. It is one of the best conductors of heat and electricity. Symbol Cu. Atomic weight 63.3. It is one of the most useful metals in itself, and also in its alloys, brass and bronze.
- n. colloq. A coin made of copper; a penny, cent, or other minor coin of copper.
- n. A vessel, especially a large boiler, made of copper.
- n. (Naut.) the boilers in the galley for cooking.
- v. To cover or coat with copper; to sheathe with sheets of copper.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a reddish-brown color resembling the color of polished copper
- n. a copper penny
- n. any of various small butterflies of the family Lycaenidae having coppery wings
- n. a ductile malleable reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element; occurs in various minerals but is the only metal that occurs abundantly in large masses; used as an electrical and thermal conductor
- v. coat with a layer of copper
- n. uncomplimentary terms for a policeman
Etymologies
- From cop (verb) ("to take, capture") + -er (“agent suffix”) (Wiktionary)
- Middle English coper, from Old English, from Late Latin cuprum, from Latin Cyprium (aes), Cyprian (metal), from Cyprius, of Cyprus, from Greek Kuprios, from Kupros, Cyprus.From cop2. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The stills are generally made of naked copper; the acid works upon that metal, and forms with it the _acetate of copper_, or verdigrise, part of which passes with the whiskey.”
“Meanwhile the master of the house presents himself with a disturbed and gloomy countenance, and doubts much whether we can have any dinner to-day, because no one will sell anything, either for copper or silver; moreover hints darkly that they expect a _copper pronuniciamiento_ to-morrow; and observes that the shops are shut up.”
“Precisely; and those which we prepared by dissolving copper in nitric acid, _nitrat of copper_, and so on.”
“I shall not enter into examination of the prices for which he now proposes to sell his half-pence or what he calls his copper, by the pound; I have said enough of it in my former letter, and it hath likewise been considered by others.”
“In the short term copper prices may drift lower as growth slows in America and Europe.”
“43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ( "NI 43-101"), and does not comply with that standard; nor does the term copper equivalent grade comply with that standard.”
“The Queller Washlady quarter (lot #1906), in copper, is NGC certified ‘Proof-66′ with both ‘Cameo’ and [Original] ‘Red’ [Color] designations.”
Queller Collection of Coin Patterns Sells for $8.36 Million (Part 1) : Coin Collecting News
“Part of the reason for the strong imports in November and December was that long-term copper supply contracts are typically fulfilled toward the year-end.”
The Wall Street Journal: China's Imports Slow But Remain Elevated
“The rally in copper futures slowed after the release of August U.S. new-home sales data, which were pegged higher but came in flat compared with July.”
“Reuters Moves in copper futures are often correlated with the outlook for global industrial production.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘copper’.
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SCIE - EU nomenclature
All the scientific words found in the official EU nomenclature. For the screening I used Vocabgrabber of the Visual Thesaurus.
silicon, silica, shrimp, shelve, shallot, serine, seedling, septic, secretin, seaweed, screening, Scomber and 1171 more...
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POL - people in power
daredevil, tzar, king, boss, master, commander, chief, kingpin, top banana, bigwig, big cheese, big wheel and 452 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
veal, valve, used, yak, wax, wan, teak, vat, vas, strip, use, strap and 4515 more...
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Uncommon Colours
azure, myrtle, periwinkle, viridian, jade, emerald, lime, chartreuse, asparagus, celadon, harlequin, olive and 147 more...
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TECH - metals and alloys
toughness, furnace, vibration, bronze, modulus, tubing, flow, zinc, melting, porta, embrittle, wetting and 262 more...
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bad memory
copper, anvil, oblique, thrust, shrine, welfare, farewell, bitter, faction, sectarian, tangible, spectacle and 134 more...
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Dungeons and Dragons
Would you like to join our party? We just started a new campaign.
For more general lists about role-playing games, see brandelion's RPG and lampbane's Tales of the Dread Gazebo.dungeons and dragons, d&d, elf, orc, halfling, drow, giant, troll, kobold, rpg, d20, human and 100 more...
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Crayon Colors
This is a continuing list of Crayon Colors past and present. As I find new ones added to the "box", I will add them here as well!
black, blue, brown, apricot, bittersweet, blue green, blue violet, brick red, burnt sienna, carnation pink, cornflower, flesh and 134 more...
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FUN - World of Warcraft terminology
tears, blizzard, warrior, tauren, regular, library, good duel, damage, gearscore, firelands, resurrect, Dalaran and 424 more...
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Chemical Elements
A list of chemical elements
hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium and 106 more...
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MUSIC - ALL TERMS
With focus on non-classical styles, but not excluding terms of the latter.
banjo, accompaniment, acoustic bass, bass guitar, bass clef, ground, brass, cornet, Mute, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, arrangement and 866 more...
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Words sung by: Belle and Sebastian
beguiling, herbaceous, peninsula, suffragette, damascan, hastening, berserk, overtime, leccy, bestow, swathe, arab strap and 193 more...
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 516 more...
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Metals
words describing various metals
argent, aluminum, titanium, iron, copper, steel, mercury, bronze, gold, silver, platinum, lead and 6 more...
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femanimales
Animal words and phrases that are used when talking about women. Some of these are found offensive, but this can be discussed on the words' pages. This list is just a list.
pussy, kitten, cougar, beaver, bitch, chick, jenny, cow, filly, vixen, fox, la passera and 10 more...
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Colour Me Happy
violet, lavender, rose, eggshell, mauve, fuschia, grey, azure, almond, sienna, purple, periwinkle and 71 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for copper.

Prolagus
(White collar boy, by Belle and Sebastian) Apr 27, 2009
oroboros Cu.
Can be spelled with the Periodic Table of Elements symbols: CoPPEr Dec 12, 2006