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kopeck

or ko·pek, co·peck

[koh-pek]
noun
  1. an aluminum-bronze coin of Russia, the Soviet Union, and its successor states, the 100th part of a ruble.
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Origin of kopeck

1690–1700; < Russian kopéĭka, equivalent to kopʾë lance, spear + -ka diminutive suffix; so called from the lance with which the figure on the coin was armed
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for kopeck

Historical Examples

  • But charity—to the amount of one kopeck, one meal, even so much as a cup of water!

    The Genius

    Margaret Horton Potter

  • Every kopeck, every rouble, has gone to tighten that embrace.

    The Genius

    Margaret Horton Potter

  • Every kopeck she earned or saved was a scale in her coat of armor.

  • It is true it might have been worth no more than a kopeck, but a kopeck is to him what a rouble is to me.

    Foma Gordyeff

    Maxim Gorky

  • I repeat to you, as to all the rest, I would not give a kopeck for any man I have ever met.

    High Noon

    Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for kopeck

kopeck

kopek or copeck

noun
  1. a monetary unit of Russia and Belarus worth one hundredth of a rouble: coins are still used as tokens for coin-operated machinery although the kopeck itself is virtually valueless
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Word Origin

Russian kopeika, from kopye lance; so called because of the representation of Tsar Ivan IV on the coin with a lance in his hand
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for kopeck

n.

1/100 of a ruble, from Russian kopeika, from kop'e "lance" (cognate with Greek kopis "chopper, cleaver;" see hatchet); so called because the coin showed the czar with lance in hand.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper