copy

American  

[kop-ee] / ˈkɒp i /

noun

• copies
  plural

1. an imitation, reproduction, or transcript of an original.

   a copy of a famous painting.

   Synonyms:

   facsimile, carbon, duplicate

2. one of the various examples or specimens of the same book, engraving, or the like.

3. written matter intended to be reproduced in printed form.

   The editor sent the copy for the next issue to the printer.

4. the text of a news story, advertisement, television commercial, etc., as distinguished from related visual material.

5. the newsworthiness of a person, thing, or event (often preceded by good orbad ).

   The president is always good copy.

6. Computers. an exact duplicate of a file, program, etc..

   Keep a backup copy of the document.

7. Genetics. replication.

8. Printing. pictures and artwork prepared for reproduction.

9. British Informal. (in schools) a composition; a written assignment.

10. British. a size of drawing or writing paper, 16 × 20 inches (40 × 50 centimeters).

11. Archaic. something that is to be reproduced; an example or pattern, as of penmanship to be copied by a pupil.

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verb (used with object)

• copies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• copied,
  past participle,  past
• copying
  present participle

1. to make a copy of; transcribe; reproduce.

   to copy a set of figures from a book.

2. to receive and understand (a radio message or its sender).

3. to follow as a pattern or model; imitate.

   Antonyms:

   originate

4. Computers. to make an exact duplicate of (a file, selected text, etc.) and store in another location or in temporary memory.

   Can I copy the program to another computer? Copy the selected paragraph to the clipboard.

verb (used without object)

• copies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• copied,
  past participle,  past
• copying
  present participle

1. to make a copy or copies.

2. to undergo copying.

   It copied poorly.

   I can't install the program—one file won't copy.

3. to hear or receive a radio message, as over a CB radio.

   Do you copy?

4. Newfoundland. Also to leap from one ice pan to another across open water.

idioms

1. copy the mail, mail.

copy British  

/ ˈkɒpɪ /

noun

1. an imitation or reproduction of an original

2. a single specimen of something that occurs in a multiple edition, such as a book, article, etc

3. 1. matter to be reproduced in print

   2. written matter or text as distinct from graphic material in books, newspapers, etc

4. the words used to present a promotional message in an advertisement

5. informal journalism suitable material for an article or story

   disasters are always good copy

6. archaic a model to be copied, esp an example of penmanship

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verb

1. to make a copy or reproduction of (an original)

2. (tr) to imitate as a model

3. (intr) to imitate unfairly

Synonym Usage

See imitate.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• precopy
  noun
• recopy
  verb (used with object)
• uncopied
  adjective
• well-copied
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• copies
  plural

Participles

• copying
  present
• copied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• copy
  simple
• copies
  simple
• have copied
  perfect
• has copied
  perfect
• am copying
  progressive
• are copying
  progressive
• is copying
  progressive
• have been copying
  perfect progressive
• has been copying
  perfect progressive

Past

• copied
  simple
• had copied
  perfect
• was copying
  progressive
• were copying
  progressive
• had been copying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will copy
  simple
• will have copied
  perfect
• will be copying
  progressive
• will have been copying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of copy

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English copie (from Anglo-French ) from Medieval Latin cōpia “abundance, something copied,” Latin: “wealth, abundance”; see copious; copy ( def. 18 ) originally a children's game, from the phrase copy the leader

Explanation

A copy is a reproduction of something — it looks identical to the original. You might ask your sister to make a copy of your nephew's adorable painting so you can hang it on your fridge. You can use the word copy in several different ways. Your doctor's office may keep a copy of your insurance card on file, and they may copy it again every year. This verb form of copy means "to replicate or reproduce." You can also copy down what your teacher says in class — in this case, you're not making an identical copy, but writing the basic ideas. The Medieval Latin root, copia, "reproduction or transcript," comes from the Latin word copia, "plenty."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

copy copies copied copying

Roy Cohn made for good copy, but history is another matter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

At the same time, it tracks users' search data and social media trends to generate designs with a high likelihood of attracting demand -- often appearing to simply copy from other brands.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

I got to present him a framed newspaper copy of his achievement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

They added that a copy of the Sikh scripture inside the temple was also reportedly desecrated.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

He toddled over to his diaper bag, and came back with a battered book, a copy of The Velveteen Rabbit that had belonged to his grandfather and his mother and Ivy and Lucinda before him.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Human-specific copies of SRGAP2 were nearly 10 times more abundant in microglia than in neurons.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026

The programme also helps promote authors like herself; because of the selection, it "means 14,000 copies of my book have been sent to children in the UK".

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

Over the next century, “The Settlement Cook Book” went through 40 editions and sold more than two million copies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two, angered fans earlier this year when it decided not to make any physical copies available.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Richard copies her and actually does quite well.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

Walter and others copied the idea, betting they could invest the capital for more than they had to pay policyholders, pocketing the difference and fees they collected for managing the money.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

He went straight to his bathroom mirror and copied them down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

Cofnas reproduced several tracts of Arday's PhD dissertation which he said the software had found to be copied verbatim or lightly rephrased from prior academic works by other authors.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

In addition, certain genetic backgrounds showed a striking tendency toward whole-genome duplication, an event in which the complete set of chromosomes is copied.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

After some rummaging, Mrs. Wright found the lawyer’s card and Mrs. Richardson copied down the address.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

I’ve argued that this is more akin to ghostwriting, since the student isn’t copying from an original source.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

Despite a lack of formal education, Kusman began copying the inscriptions found during excavations carried out in eastern Turkey, Iran and Armenia, over which Urartu once stretched.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

The Tractor Boys' new home kit takes inspiration from the Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey stands at Portman Road, with a motif copying the one that runs across the roof of the stadium.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

“I was copying and pasting from ChatGPT,” said Vo, who lives in San Francisco.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

She told me she had put those blue streaks in her hair and now everybody at school was copying her.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

Related Words

• image
• model
• photocopy
• photograph
• portrait
• print
• replica
• reproduction
• transcript
• type