copy

Alternative forms

• coppy, coppie, copie (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English copy, copie, from Old French copie (“abundance, plenty; transcript, copy”), from Medieval Latin copia (“reproduction, transcript”), from Latin cōpia (“plenty, abundance”), from *coopia, from co- (“together”) + ops (“wealth, riches”). More at opulent.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒpi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑpi/
• Hyphenation: copy

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒpi

Noun

copy (plural copies)

1. The result of copying; an identical duplicate of an original.

   Please bring me the copies of those reports.

   • Denham

     I have not the vanity to think my copy equal to the original.

2. An imitation, sometimes of inferior quality.

   That handbag is a copy. You can tell because the buckle is different.

3. (journalism) The text that is to be typeset.
4. (journalism) A gender-neutral abbreviation for copy boy.
5. (marketing, advertising) The output of copywriters, who are employed to write material which encourages consumers to buy goods or services.
6. (uncountable) The text of newspaper articles.

   Submit all copy to the appropriate editor.

7. A school work pad.

   Tim got in trouble for forgetting his maths copy.

8. A printed edition of a book or magazine.

   Have you seen the latest copy of "Newsweek" yet?

   The library has several copies of the Bible.

9. Writing paper of a particular size, called also bastard.
10. (obsolete) That which is to be imitated, transcribed, or reproduced; a pattern, model, or example.

    His virtues are an excellent copy for imitation.

    • Holder

      Let him first learn to write, after a copy, all the letters.

11. (obsolete) An abundance or plenty of anything.
    • Ben Jonson

      She was blessed with no more copy of wit, but to serve his humour thus.

12. (obsolete) copyhold; tenure; lease

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

13. (genetics) The result of gene or chromosomal duplication.

Verb

copy (third-person singular simple present copies, present participle copying, simple past and past participle copied)

1. (transitive) To produce an object identical to a given object.

   Please copy these reports for me.

   • 2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892:

     [Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes. The truth is that Newton was very much a product of his time.

2. (transitive, computing) To place a copy of an object in memory for later use.

   First copy the files, and then paste them in another directory.

3. (transitive) To imitate.

   Don't copy my dance moves.

   Mom, he's copying me!

   • Dugald Stewart (1753–1828)

     We copy instinctively the voices of our companions, their accents, and their modes of pronunciation.

4. (transitive, radio) To receive a transmission successfully.

   Do you copy?

Etymology

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkopy/
• Hyphenation: co‧py

Noun

copy

1. A copywriter.
2. A copy (output of copywriter).