copper

¹ American  

[kop-er] / ˈkɒp ər /

noun

1. a malleable, ductile, metallic element having a characteristic reddish-brown color: used in large quantities as an electrical conductor and in the manufacture of alloys, as brass and bronze. Cu; 63.54; 29; 8.92 at 20°C.

2. a metallic reddish brown.

3. a coin composed of copper, bronze, or the like, as the U.S. cent or the British penny.

4. any of several butterflies of the family Lycaenidae, as Lycaena hypophleas American copper, having copper-colored wings spotted and edged with black.

5. a container made of copper.

6. a tool partly or wholly made of copper.

   a soldering copper.

7. British. a large kettle, now usually made of iron, used for cooking or to boil laundry.

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adjective

1. made of copper.

   copper kettles.

2. reddish-brown; coppery.

   The copper sun sank into the sea.

verb (used with object)

• coppers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• coppered,
  past participle,  past
• coppering
  present participle

1. to cover, coat, or sheathe with copper.

2. Informal. hedge.

copper ² American  

[kop-er] / ˈkɒp ər /

noun

Slang.

1. a police officer.

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copper ¹ British  

/ ˈkɒpə /

noun

1. Often shortened to: cop.  a slang word for policeman

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copper ² British  

/ ˈkɒpə /

noun

1. 1. a malleable ductile reddish metallic element occurring as the free metal, copper glance, and copper pyrites: used as an electrical and thermal conductor and in such alloys as brass and bronze. Symbol: Cu; atomic no: 29; atomic wt: 63.546; valency: 1 or 2; relative density: 8.96; melting pt: 1084.87±+0.2°C; boiling pt: 2563°C

   2. ( as modifier )

      a copper coin

2. 1. the reddish-brown colour of copper

   2. ( as adjective )

      copper hair

3. informal any copper or bronze coin

4. a large vessel, formerly of copper, used for boiling or washing

5. any of various small widely distributed butterflies of the genera Lycaena, Heodes, etc, typically having reddish-brown wings: family Lycaenidae

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verb

1. (tr) to coat or cover with copper

copper Scientific  

/ kŏp′ər /

1. A reddish-brown, ductile, malleable metallic element that is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. It is widely used for electrical wires, water pipes, and rust-resistant parts, either in its pure form or in alloys such as brass and bronze. Atomic number 29; atomic weight 63.546; melting point 1,083°C; boiling point 2,595°C; specific gravity 8.96; valence 1, 2.

2. See Periodic Table See Note at element

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• coppery
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• coppering
  present
• coppered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• copper
  simple
• coppers
  simple
• have coppered
  perfect
• has coppered
  perfect
• am coppering
  progressive
• are coppering
  progressive
• is coppering
  progressive
• have been coppering
  perfect progressive
• has been coppering
  perfect progressive

Past

• coppered
  simple
• had coppered
  perfect
• was coppering
  progressive
• were coppering
  progressive
• had been coppering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will copper
  simple
• will have coppered
  perfect
• will be coppering
  progressive
• will have been coppering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of copper¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English coper, copper, Old English coper, copor (cognate with Old Norse koparr, German Kupfer ), from Late Latin cuprum, for Latin ( aes ) Cyprium “(metal) from Cyprus”

Origin of copper²

First recorded in 1830–40; perhaps cop ² + -er ¹

Explanation

Copper is a reddish-gold colored metal that's commonly used in electrical wires and plumbing. Your grandmother might make her famous chocolate caramel sauce in a shiny copper pot. Before 1983, pennies were 95 percent copper. Today, they're almost entirely zinc (a less expensive metal), coated with a thin copper plating. They look the same, but the older coins are quite a bit heavier. Copper is a good conductor of heat and electricity, which is why it's used for both fancy cookware and wires. You can also use copper for things that have a similar color: "His copper curls make him stand out from the other choir members."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

copper coppers coppered coppering

Find insight on Antofagasta, Zambia’s copper mining industry, London’s miners and more in the latest Market Talks covering basic materials.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Finning’s services to lithium miners in Bolivia and copper miners in Chile and Argentina give it “a very significant opportunity for profits,” with those materials in such high demand during the AI build-out, Robotti said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

The federal government considers Johnson Tract a “critical metals” undertaking because, alongside gold, the ore contains important industrial metals like zinc and copper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Price, in conjunction with fellow analysts Duncan Hay and Ashley Kielty, set out his case for copper in a report published Tuesday with the punchy title, “Copper…. Better than gold.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

As Maria watched, her father and his apprentices carved maps and illustrations onto copper plates.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

In it he said: "Look at how many coppers there are in my house... That, ladies and gentlemen, is the country that we live in."

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2023

Mette, who has been with the department for 18 years, told "young coppers" they have a "long way to go."

From Fox News ● Oct. 21, 2021

“You want to say `I know all these coppers, I know all these things?’

From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2020

There do exist bent coppers as the saying goes.

From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2018

Hoping it was only the coppers he wanted, Ranofer went directly to him and put them in his hand.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Within the last month Alsop coppered the Longworth bet by wagering heavily on Ike to run.

From Time Magazine Archive

Two lighters, coppered below, bearded with dark green weed, blundered alongside with bags of coal, and soon the gangs, a grimy and ragged collection, were getting the bags aboard, and the winch grumbling away.

From The Bonadventure A Random Journal of an Atlantic Holiday by Edmund Blunden

The officers acknowledged to their captors that there were a considerable number more gunboats in the harbour, all new and coppered, very fast, and well fitted for service.

From Ben Burton Born and Bred at Sea by Archibald Webb

During action this becomes coppered, while in contact with the sulphate of copper, but it is not attacked by the acid.

From Electric Bells and All About Them A Practical Book for Practical Men by S. R. Bottone

The French ships also had a great advantage in being coppered, besides which, though respectively carrying the same number of guns as the British, they were much larger vessels.

From How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves Updated to 1900 by William Henry Giles Kingston

Clampett & Co. expect to get richer still on royalties, and are coppering their bet by making a round-the-world tour, beating bandits and fattening the market for their book.

From Time Magazine Archive

This year also the experiment for coppering ships’ bottoms as a preservation against worms was introduced into the Royal Navy, and tried on the Alarm frigate, of 32 guns.

From How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves Updated to 1900 by William Henry Giles Kingston

Naturally I'd been prejudiced against him not only by his mother's praise but by his father's steady coppering of the same.

From Somewhere in Red Gap by Harry Leon Wilson

A method of coppering soldered articles will be described later on.

From On Laboratory Arts by Richard Threlfall

When both ends are silvered the process of coppering by electro deposit is commenced.

From On Laboratory Arts by Richard Threlfall

Related Words

• constable
• detective
• man
• officer
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• police
• policewoman