copper

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“

That on the copper is a little different, but all are pretty -- so pretty that Her Majesty's loyal subjects prefer them to all other likenesses, even poor men feeling that they cannot have too many of them.

—Queen Victoria, her girlhood and womanhood

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Definitions (51)

American Heritage Dictionary (8)

noun 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.
noun A coin, usually of small denomination, made of copper or a copper alloy.
noun Chiefly British A large cooking pot made of copper or often of iron.

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Century Dictionary (35)

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).
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. The resident landlords, for the most part, did their duty well —establishing soup coppers and distributing cooked food. W. S. Gregg, Irish Hist. for Eng. Readers, p. 152.
Hence plural The mouth, throat, and stomach, as the receptacle and digester of food. See hot coppers, below. [Slang.] A fellow can't enjoy his breakfast after that [devilled bones and mulled port] without something to cool his coppers. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, iii.

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No wonder I never understood the macarena We tried to wake you when they legalized dangling participles (the TV newscasters had been lobbying hard for that one), but no dice copper-fastened Q: The Irish Times has been doing a fair bit of political reporting about the E.U. lately, and they seem to use the phrase copper-fastened quite frequently to indicate when something is finis; signed, sealed, and delivered; done. — The Word Detective
That on the copper is a little different, but all are pretty—so pretty that Her Majesty's loyal subjects prefer them to all other likenesses, even poor men feeling that they cannot have too many of them CHAPTER XII. — Queen Victoria, Her Girlhood And Womanhood
It's purely subjective, but I think the copper is the preferable finish. — TrustedReviews Site-wide Feed
And thus, supposing that your copper is already part filled with the broth made from bones (all the grease having been removed from the surface), add any meat you may have, cut up in pieces of about four ounces weight, garnish plentifully with carrots, celery, onions, some thyme, and ground allspice, well-soaked split peas, barley, or rice; and, as the soup boils up, skim it well occasionally, season moderately with salt, and after about four hours' gentle and continuous boiling, the soup will be ready for distribution. — A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes
He was in search of copper, and taking a half dozen of the natives with him, and one of the teams, a load of copper ore was brought in The furnaces and smelters had been set up by the boys, previous to this, and within ten days a hundred pounds of copper were run into clay receptacles, to be used for the various purposes What do you suppose the Professor wants with so much copper?" — The Wonder Island Boys: Conquest of the Savages

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context

iron · brass · zinc · tin · plastic · carbon · lead · crystal · golden · ivory · platinum · porcelain

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

American Heritage Dictionary (2)

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.

Century Dictionary (2)

Early modern English coper, from Middle English coper, from Anglo-Saxon coper, copor = Dutch koper = Middle Low German Low German kopper = Old High German chupfar, Middle High German G. kupfer = Icelandic koparr = Swedish koppar = Danish kobber = French cuivre = Spanish Portuguese cobre (later Arabic qobros), from Middle Latin cuper, Late Latin cuprum, copper, contr. of Latin cyprium, copper, usually Cyprium æs, i. e., Cyprian brass, from Greek Κν/πριος, Cyprian, from Κύπρος, Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean, whence the Romans got their best copper: see Cyprian. The Italian word is rame = Walloon arame = Spanish arambre, alambre = Portuguese arame = Pr. aram = French airain, properly, yellow copper, brass, from Late Latin æramen, copper, bronze, from Latin æs (ær-), copper, bronze: see æs. The Greek name was χαλκός: see chalcitis, etc.
from copper, n.

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/ˈkɑpər/

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copper

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