| 释义 |
▪ I. copper, n.1|ˈkɒpə(r)|
Forms: 1 copor, 1–7 coper, 5 copre, copar, copir, -yr, copur(re, koper, couper, 6 coppar, cooper, 6– copper.
[OE. coper, copor, ME. coper = MDu. cōper, Du. koper; also ON. kopar (Sw. koppar, Du. kobber). The OHG. chuphar, MHG. and mod.G. kupfer correspond to WGer. type *kuppar, ad. pop. L. cuprum. The LG. forms point according to Pogatscher, to a variant L. form *coprum (whence also OF. coevre). The cl. L. name was Cyprium æs, Cyprium, i.e. Cyprian metal, so called in Italy from its most noted ancient source, Cyprus, Gr. κύπρος, whence κύπριος, Cyprius. Cuprum occurs in the Edict of Diocletian, a.d. 301; cf. also the post-cl. derivatives cupreus, cuprinus. Before the adoption of the Roman name, copper was by the Teutonic peoples included with some of its alloys under a general designation cognate with L. æs, appearing in Gothic as aiz, WG. *air, OHG. êr, ON. eir, OE. ár, whence ore. Cf. the wide application of Gr. χαλκός.]
I.
1. a. One of the well-known metals, distinguished by its peculiar red colour; it is malleable, ductile, and very tenacious, and is found native as well as in many ores. Chemically it is a dyad: symbol Cu. By the alchemists it was represented by the same sign as the planet Venus ({female}).
c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 16 Gnid þa buteran on þæm hwetstane mid copore. c1050OE. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 217/9 Cyprum coper, cyprinus cypren. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 276 Saturnus leed, and Iuppiter is tyn, And Venus Coper, by my fader kyn. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 261 Þe hille þat coper [c 1450 copur] is idigged inne. 1398― Barth. De P.R. xv. xl. (1495) 502 Cyprus..was full famouse and namly of metall of copre. c1425Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 653/16 Hoc cuprum, copurre. c1440Promp. Parv. 92 Copyr, metalle, cuprum. 1485Malory Arthur ii. xi, Xii ymages of laton and couper. 1552–3Inv. Ch. Goods, Stafford 8 On crosse of coper. Ibid. 36 On crosse of cooper. 1590Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. C iiij, Chawke may not beare the price of Cheese, nor copper be currant to goe for paiment. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 3 Men talke of the Philosophers stone, that it turneth copper into gold. 1767Byron's Voy. Round World 7 The 18th of April, 1764..the bottom was sheathed with copper..which was the first experiment of the kind that had ever been made on any vessel. 1872Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 23 Copper..is found in many parts of the world nearly pure, and fit for working.
b. With qualification, in the names of various compounds and ores of the metal, etc.: e.g. antimonial copper, a sulph-antimonide of copper, chalcostibite; arsenical c., a native copper arsenide, domeykite; black c., unrefined copper after smelting; black c. (ore),native black oxide of copper, melaconite; blister(ed) c., copper as it appears after the roasting process; blanched c., an alloy of copper and arsenic, used for clock dials, etc.; blue c., (a) native copper sulphide, covellite; (b) blue carbonate of copper, azurite; † burnt c., an old term for oxide of copper; Chessy c., a beautiful crystallized variety of Azurite, found near Chessy in France, chessylite; dry c., copper in one of the resultant conditions of the refining process; emerald c. (ore), a rare silicate of copper occurring in emerald-green crystals, dioptase; enamellers' c., fine copper used for enamelled dial-plates; grey c. (ore), an antimonio-sulphide or arsenio-sulphide of copper, tetrahedrite; indigo c. = blue copper (Covellite); japan c. (see quot. 1875); octahedral c. (ore) = red copper; phosphor c., an alloy of copper and phosphorus; purple c. (ore), a term applied to various minerals consisting of cuprous and ferric sulphides, esp. Bornite; pyritous c. = yellow copper ore; red c., a form of native cuprous oxide, cuprite; † rose c. (see quot. 1706); variegated c. (ore) = purple copper; velvet c. (ore), a native sulphate of copper and aluminium, cyanotrichite; vitreous c., a sulphide of copper = chalcocite (see chalco-); white c., an alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel = German Silver, Nickel Silver; yellow c. (ore), native sulphide of copper and iron, chalcopyrite.
1706Phillips, Rose-Copper, a copper melted several times and separated from its gross and earthy Parts. 1730–6Bailey (folio), Burnt Copper (in Chymical Writings) is expressed by these Characters {bcop1} {bcop2}. 1863–72Watts Dict. Chem. II. 78 Purple copper does not give off sulphur when ignited in a test-tube. Ibid. 70 Red copper..occurs crystallised in the regular system, generally in octahedrons and with octahedral cleavage. 1875Ure Dict. Arts I. 918 It is covered with black blisters, like cementation steel, whence it has got the name of blistered copper. Ibid. 920 Copper is also made into small ingots, about six ounces in weight. These are intended for exportation to the East Indies, and are known in commerce by the name of Japan copper. Ibid. 925 Fusion for blister copper. 1884Whitaker's Almanack 385/2 Phosphor-copper..contains 15 per cent. of copper, and produces an extremely close-grained elastic metal which heightens the quality of copper and brass when added to them.
c. pl. Shares in a copper-mining company.
1899Boston (Mass.) Globe 28 Apr. 9/5 The largest owners of ‘coppers’ know of no investment that will be as safe and give as large returns as ‘coppers’. 1907Daily Chron. 26 Oct. 1/7 Mines, including coppers, showed a general recovery. 1964Financial Times 3 Mar. 1/5 Coppers improved and Kaffirs remained quietly firm.
2. a. Copper money; with a and pl. (colloq.), a copper coin; a penny or halfpenny; a cent of the United States. Still used of the bronze which has superseded the copper coinage.
Bungtown copper (U.S.), a spurious coin counterfeiting the English halfpenny.
[1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 386 If so, our Copper buyes no better treasure.] 1712Steele Spect. No. 509 ⁋2 To chace the lads from chuck, that the beadle might seize their copper. 1788T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 407 Neither had a wish to lay up a copper. 1827Hone Every-day Bk. II. 67 He has ‘no more copper’ about him. a1845Hood Tale Trumpet xxviii, Chucking a copper To Jack or Bob with a timber limb. 1876Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly xxxv, One feels a difficulty in offering a princess the change for a shilling in coppers. Mod. Only a few coppers in his pocket.
b. U.S. In Faro, orig. a copper coin used to ‘copper’ with (copper v.1 2); hence, a small disk, token or check, now used for the same purpose.
1892Correspt. at Cincinnati, The game is now played with ivory checks for money, and checkers or buttons as ‘coppers’.
3. a. A vessel made of copper, particularly a large boiler for cooking or laundry purposes, originally made of copper, but now more often of iron; in pl., esp. the large boilers or cooking vessels on board ship.
1667Lond. Gaz. No. 136/4 The New Invention of Major Thorny Franke, for the hanging of Coppers. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 320/2 The Brewing-Pan..is..of some called a Brewers Copper from the Metal which it is made of. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. vii. 199 The chiefest of their business was to get Coppers, for each Ship having now so many Men, our Pots would not boil Victuals fast enough. 1703Lond. Gaz. No. 3914/8 A convenient Sugar-house..and all Utensils, viz. Two Boiling Coppers, Three Cooling Coppers, Pots and Stones. 1796H. Glasse Cookery iii. 26 When you boil a ham, put it into your copper when the water is pretty warm. 1833Marryat P. Simple xiv, What can you expect from officers who boil their 'tators in the ship's coppers? 1875Ure Dict. Arts I. 508 Brewing, For every quarter of malt mashed, the copper should contain 140 gallons. 1881Mechanic §1219 Fixing coppers and ranges should be left to the professional bricklayer.
b. A copper mug or vessel for liquor.
1749R. Goadby Carew (ed. 2) 142 Of the Butler they got a Copper of good Ale. 1809–12M. Edgeworth Absentee ix, He..darted into the public-house, re-appearing, in a few moments, with a copper of ale and a horn in his hand.
4. a. A plate of copper on which a design is engraved or etched. Cf. copper-plate.
1668Excellency of Pen & Pencil A v, How to etch in Copper..How to prepare your Copper..How to take off any Picture, or Map-letters, &c., upon your Copper. 1814Advt. in J. Smeaton's Misc. Papers, The Council of the Royal Society having granted the loan of the coppers in order to afford every facility in their power to the publication. 1887F. Wedmore in Academy 19 Feb. 136/2 Certain of the coppers are known to have been destroyed.
b. A ceremonial copper sheet like a shield made and used by N. Amer. Indians.
[1814U. Lisiansky Voy. round World viii. 150 Mr. Baranoff brought with him also two other Curiosities; one of which was a thin plate, made of virgin copper... These plates are only possessed by the rich.] 1888A. P. Niblack Coast Indians S. Alaska & N. Brit. Columbia viii. 336 Amongst the Tsimshian these coppers are exhibited in a circle in upright position at the ceremony of ‘bringing out’ a girl. 1907F. W. Hodge Handbk. Amer. Indians I. 346/1 Perhaps the most noteworthy product is the unique, shield-like ‘coppers’ made of sheet metal and highly esteemed as symbols of wealth or distinction. 1935W. M. Halliday Potlatch & Totem xi. 109 You know this copper; you know what I paid for it. The copper which Awalaskinis broke, and of which he gave me a piece, was not in the same class with this one. 1969Times 22 Sept. 14/4 The ultimate gesture of bravado..was for a man to break his own ‘copper’.
5. A copper implement like a cotton reel or bobbin hollow and open at the ends, used by gold and silver wire-drawers in annealing: it is also borne by the Company in their armorial ensign.
1828Berry Heraldry 1, Corporations: Gold and Silver Wire-drawers, az. on a chev. or, between two coppers in chief of the second. 1892G. Kenning (in Letter), The copper..is a hollow copper cylinder open at the ends, and is used by wire-drawers in the process of annealing.
6. The copper sheathing of a vessel. rare.
1836Marryat Pirate vii, Through the clear..water her copper shone brightly.
7. Short for copper-butterfly.
1828Butterfly Collector's Vade-mecum 140 Lycæna Phlæas, the Common Copper. Ibid. 40 Our native coppers also are remarkable for the fulgid colour..of their wings. 1872Wood Insects at Home 408 Lovely Butterflies which are known by the popular name of Blues and Coppers.
8. Phrases. (colloq. or slang). † to catch copper: to suffer harm, ‘come to grief’. hot coppers: a mouth and throat parched through excessive drinking; hence, to cool or clear one's coppers.
1530Palsgr. 478/2, I catche copper, I catche [h]arme, Je me endommaige. And he be nat the wyser, he maye happe to catche copper by the meanes. 1578Whetstone Promos & Cass. v. iv, Go to, Barber, no more, least copper you catch. 1831E. J. Trelawny Adv. Younger Son vii, Bring some grog to clear our coppers. Ibid. xcv, Upon which he turned a glass down his coppers. 1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxii, His smoking tea which went..hissing over the ‘hot coppers’ of that respectable veteran. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. iii. (1889) 22 A fellow can't enjoy his breakfast after that without something to cool his coppers. 1890Besant Demoniac i. 16 In the repentant morning..when hot coppers, fiery throats..parched tongues and fevered brows are served out among young sinners.
II. attrib. and Comb.
9. simple attrib.
a. Made of copper; = OE. cyperen. (Formerly often hyphened.)
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 191 There is copper coine of the stampe yat gold is, yet is it not currant. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. iv. 15 Shakt his long locks colourd like copper-wyre. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia i. 3 He gaue vs..for a Copper Kettell, fiftie skins. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Hist. Jas. III Wks. (1711) 50 Copper-money was coined in the minority of the king. 1790J. Wolcott (P. Pindar) Epist. Sylv. Urban, One of Sir Joseph Banks's Copper-farthing Oracles. 1877W. Jones Finger-ring 148 Wearing a copper ring.
b. Of or pertaining to copper. (Often hyphened.)
1720Gay Poems (1745) I. 168 Next Oranges the longing boys entice To trust their copper fortunes to the dice. 1776Withering Brit. Plants (1796) IV. 46 In the gallery of a copper mine. 1800tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 101 A green oxide, called Copper Rust, or Verdigrise. 1872Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 267 This copper district contains perhaps the richest copper ores in the world. 1887Pall Mall G. 22 Dec. 12/1 Copper shares continue to fluctuate.
†c. Of copper as a base metal: often with the notion of spurious, pretentious, worthless. Obs.[1603H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 117 As these copper-lace gentlemen growe rich.] 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. iv. 107 Some with cunning guild their copper crownes. 1649Bp. Hall Cases Consc. i. vi. 52 As if a man have sold you copper lace for gold; or alchymie-plate for silver. 1681Otway Soldier's Fort. i. i, Whores..in their Copper trim. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 276 Here vanity..trims her robe of frize with copper lace. 1799C. Winter in W. Jay Life (1843) 25 Beware of being golden apprentices, silver journeymen, and copper masters. [See also copper captain.] d. Copper-coloured, coppery. (Cf. gold, silver.)
1699W. Dampier Voy. II. i. vii. 128 They are..of a dark Indian copper colour. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 229 The natives of America. are of a red or copper colour. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. ii. vii, All in a hot and copper sky. 1834H. Martineau Farrers iii. 39 The copper sun showed himself behind the opposite chimney.
10. gen. comb.:
a. attributive, as copper-founder, copper-market, copper-miner, copper-office, copper-seller, copper-turner;
b. objective, as copper-bearing, copper-smelting;
c. instrumental, as copper-poisoning;
d. similative, as copper-brown, copper-green, copper-red, copper-yellow, adjs.;
e. parasynthetic, as copper-bellied, copper-headed, copper-laced (cf. 9 c), copper-toed.
1887Daily News 27 Sept. 2/1 The producers of *copper-bearing pyrites would be tempted to augment their sales of copper.
1842Prichard Nat. Hist. Man 20 Their colour is a dark copper, or *copper-brown.
1863Heroes, Philos., etc. time Louis XVI, II. 85 Cagliostro married the daughter of a *copper-founder.
1843Portlock Geol. 527 The rock is of a light *copper green.
1833A. Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Admin. (1837) II. 382 Two new footmen, with..*copper-headed canes.
1602Dekker Satirom. Wks. 1873 I. 244 These charitable *copper-lac'd Christians. 1629Davenant Albovine Wks. (1673) 416 Copper-lac'd Christians cannot personate Her Tragick Scenes.
1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 80 This I will sell in the *copper-market.
1716Lond. Gaz. No. 5414/3 The Governour and Company of *Copper-Miners in England.
1709Steele Tatler No. 61 ⁋2 An honest and worthy Citizen belonging to the *Copper-Office.
1883Cassell's Fam. Mag. July 492/2 The feathers..are of shaded *copper-red.
1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4316/4 Midleton Shaw..*Copper-seller.
1870Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 46 Swansea is the centre of the *copper-smelting.
1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. ii. (1885) 54 *Copper-toed shoes.
1700in Maidment Sc. Pasquils (1868) 359 From *copper turners turned to golden guineas.
1882Garden 25 Mar. 205/2 The pink and *copper-yellow Tea Roses.
11. Special comb. copper age Archæol., the prehistoric period during which weapons, etc., were made of copper; † copper-back = copper 3; copper-beech (see beech 1); copper-bellied, as in copper-bellied snake: see quots.; copperbelt, copper belt [belt n.1 5 a], an area of central Africa in which great quantities of copper are mined; copper-bit, a pointed piece of copper, riveted to an iron shank, used in soldering; copper-bound a., ornamented with copper lace; copper-butterfly (cf. sense 7), the common name of the species of the genus Lycæna, so called from the metallic colouring of their wings; copper-cap, a percussion-cap or gun-cap, orig. of copper: see cap n.1 14; copper-colic, a disease to which workers in copper are subject; copper-cut, a copper-plate engraving; Copper Eskimo, one of a group of Eskimos living near the Coppermine River in North-West Territories, Canada; † copper-face = copper-nose; copper-faced a., (a) ‘brazen-faced’ impudent; (b) of printing-type, faced with copper; copper-fastened a. (of a ship), fastened with copper bolts to prevent corrosion; copper-finch, a provincial name of the Chaffinch (Montagu 1802); copper-foil, pure metallic copper, thin and bright (Syd. Soc. Lex.); † copper-grove, a copper-mine; copper-head, the head of a copper or boiler; see also copperhead; copper-hells, formerly a name for small gambling houses; † copper-hole, a kind of stove (see quotation); copper-hops, a variety of hops; copper-Indian, a red Indian of N. America; copper-iron attrib., of copper and iron; copper loss, the loss of energy in the copper conductors of a dynamo or motor; copper-man, (a) one who has the management of a copper or boiler; (b) an Australian prison term = copper n.4; copper-piece, a copper coin; copper-powder, a precipitate of metallic copper, used in bronzing; copper-rain, minute globules thrown up from the surface of molten copper when it contains but little suboxide (Raymond Mining Gloss.); copper schist, -slate (Ger. kupferschiefer), a dark-coloured bituminous schist impregnated with copper-ore, found in Saxony; copper-skinned a., having a copper-coloured skin; copper-smoke, the gases from the calcination of sulphuretted copper ores (Raymond); copper-snake = copperhead 1; copper-spot, name of a predatory beetle, Calosoma calidum, found in Canada; copper-top dial. and slang, a red head of hair; a red-headed person; so copper-topped a.; copper-wing, a synonym in some American works of copper-butterfly; copper-work, -works, a place where copper is worked or manufactured; copper-zinc attrib., of copper and zinc, as a copper-zinc couple in Electr. Also copper-belly, -head, etc.
[1863C. Lyell Antiq. Man ii. 11 It has been suggested that an age of copper must always have intervened between that of stone and bronze; but if so, the interval seems to have been short in Europe.] 1881J. Evans Anc. Bronze Implements i. 2 Of this *Copper Age..there are in Europe but extremely feeble traces. 1928C. Dawson Age of Gods iii. 56 There are features in the Copper Age Culture of Thrace which point to a survival there of the earlier culture traditions. 1957Childe Dawn Europ. Civ. (ed. 6) iii. 35 Copper was already competing with stone and bone as an industrial material but without in the least replacing them. This ‘Copper Age’ culture, as Turkish archaeologists label it, is fairly uniform all over the plateau.
1743Lond. & Country Brew. iii. (ed. 2) 211 He had secured the square Hole in the Middle of his *Copper-back.
1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 333 *Copper beech..purple-beech. 1881Illust. Lond. News 28 Mar. 332/2 Under the shade of cedars and copper beeches.
1705R. Beverley Virginia (1722) 260 The *Copper bellied Snake..said to be as venemous as the Rattle-Snake. 1802G. Shaw Gen. Zool. Amphib. III. 458 (Coluber erythrogaster), The Copper-bellied Snake is a native of North America.
1955Times 12 May 9/2 The four copper mining companies who are establishing a technical training foundation for young Europeans on the *copperbelt. 1965A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) xxx. 1145 The well-known Copper Belt of Katanga and Northern Rhodesia.
1881Mechanic §1505 The soldering-iron, or *copper-bit as it is sometimes called.
1809‘D. Knickerbocker’ Hist. N.Y. vi. ii, The *copper-bound cocked hat.
c1826*Copper cap [see cap n.1 14] 1858Greener Gunnery 437 Copper caps are now a misnomer..Brass caps boiled to the colour of copper are the rule.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 257/1 Drawn in all fantastick pieces and *Copper-Cuts. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. iii, The gaping populace gapes over Wood-cuts or Copper-cuts.
1884in F. W. Hodge Indians of Canada (1913) 241/1 Kidnelik, a tribe of Central Eskimos living on Coronation gulf, Arctic ocean [called] *Copper Eskimos. 1913V. Stefansson in Summary Rep. Geol. Survey, Canada, 1912 492 No permanent dwellings of any kind are erected by any of the Copper Eskimo—I call them so because..copper furnishes such a characteristic and important part of their material equipment. 1922D. Jenness Life of Copper Eskimos 9 The expedition was able to establish a base at Bernard harbour..within the territory of the Copper Eskimos. 1936Discovery July 200/2 A prolonged study of the Copper Eskimo. 1965Beaver Spring 15 The Copper Eskimo are the descendants of an old local Thule culture population.
1544T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1546) B viij, As touchynge a disease called Gutta rosacea, or *Copperface in english.
1602Dekker Satirom. Wks. 1873 I. 199 The *copper-fac't rascal will for a good supper outsweare twelve dozen of graund Juryes.
1796Hull Advertiser 9 July, 2/4 She is *copper-fastened and copper-bottomed, and a remarkable fine ship. 1876Daily News 4 Dec. 5/6 She was copper-fastened and coppered, the copper sheathing being but very slightly torn.
1702R. Thoresby in Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1072 My said Cousin receiv'd it from the *Copper Groves at Fallum.
1820Scoresby Arctic Regions II. 402 note, The platform built around the edge of the copper, is called the *copper-head.
1884Sat. Rev. 1 Mar. 275 Minor gambling-houses..were popularly known by the ugly name of ‘*copper-hells’.
1785Specif. J. Phillips' Patent No. 1477 That species of stoves or fire places commonly called *copper holes or stoke holes.
1890Daily News 30 Sept. 2/5 The advance..on sound useful *copper hops.
1799Southey Nondescripts iii, My poor complexion! I am made a *copper-Indian of already.
1916Standardization Rules Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. 48 The no-load *copper loss. 1940Chamber's Techn. Dict. 197/2 Copper loss (Elec. Eng.), the loss occuring in electric..apparatus due to the current flowing in the windings... (Radio), the power dissipated as heat in an..oscillatory circuit, due to Joule effect.
1799G. Smith Laboratory 56 The *copper-man who has the boiling them under his care and management, puts them in a large copper.
1724Swift Drapier's Lett. Wks. 1755 V. ii. 117 A parcel of *copper-pieces intrinsically not worth above a crown.
1875Ure Dict. Arts I. 923 Smelting of the Mansfeld *copper-schist.
1873M. F. Mahony Chron. Fermors I. xiii, There was no room for personal rivalry with that beady-eyed, *copper-skinned..little lady. 1907Q. Rev. July 188 The lank-haired, copper-skinned Jakuns.
1875Ure Dict. Arts I. 923 The *copper-slate is sorted, according to its composition. 1873Dawson Earth & Man vii. 167 The copper slates of Thuringia.
1765H. Timberlake Mem. 46 There are..a great number of reptiles, particularly the *copper-snake. 1806Moore Lake of Dismal Swamp v, The she-wolf stirred the brake, And the copper-snake breathed in his ear.
1916C. J. Dennis Ginger Mick 28 'E chews it over... Workin' 'is *copper-top a double shift.
1892Heslop Northumbld. Words, *Coppertopt, red haired.
1631E. Jorden Nat. Bathes x. (1669) 71 We have but one *Copper work that I hear of in all his Majesties Dominions, and that is at Keswick in Cumberland. 1716Lond. Gaz. No. 5425/9 The Lease for the Cupilo, or Copper-Works..are to be Let. 1774Johnson Diary Tour Wales 3 Aug. in Boswell, At a copper-work which receives its pigs of copper..from Warrington.
12. Esp. in the names of chemical compounds and of minerals; e.g. copper acetate, copper carbonate, copper chloride, copper oxide, copper sulphate, copper sulphide, etc., where also cupric or cuprous is used (q.v.) or the form acetate of copper, etc.; copper arsenate, a descriptive name of several minerals, e.g. olivenite, liroconite; copper-arsenide = arsenical copper (1 b); copper-arsenite, the poisonous pigment, called Scheele's green; copper-blende, a sulpharsenite of copper, tennantite; copper-bloom, a native oxide of copper, chalcotrichite; copper-emerald = emerald copper, dioptase; † copper-froth, a basic arsenate of copper; = tyrolite (Dana 1868); copper-glance, native cuprous sulphide, chalcocite; copper-green, (a) a general name of green pigments containing copper, as verdigris, verditer, Scheele's green, etc.; (b) an obsolete name of chrysocolla; copper-manganese, a variety of crednerite; copper-mica, a hydrous arsenate of copper, chalcophyllite; copper-nickel [G. kupfer-nickel, so called from its resembling copper], arsenical nickel = niccolite; copper ore, generally any ore of copper; spec. black oxide of copper, melaconite; copper-pyrites, a double sulphide of copper and iron of a metallic yellow hue, yellow copper ore, chalcopyrite; copper-uranite = torbernite (Dana 1844); copper-vitriol = blue vitriol, copperas 1 c.
1805R. Jameson Min. II. 243 The name *Copper-Emerald intimates that this mineral..resembles emerald.
Ibid. II. 188 *Copper glance is sectile.
Ibid. II. 237 What he describes under that name is *Copper-Green.
Ibid. II. 243 In the present case I use the term *Copper-mica.
1728Woodward Catal. Foreign Fossils 25 *Copper-nicol. 1776Seiferth tr. Gellert's Metal. Chym. 47 Copper-nickel contains sometimes a good deal of copper.
1713Wyllys Papers in Connecticut Hist. Soc. Coll. XXI. 380 To dig or Cause to be dugg at the Copper Mines in Symsbury as much *Copper Oar as will produce and make three Tunns and half of Copper. 1839H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall xi. 324 The interstices only between them being filled by copper-ore.
1776Seiferth tr. Gellert's Metal. Chym. 391 *Copper-pyrite. 1796Kirwan Min. II. 141 Copper pyrites projected on burning coals..gives a green color to flame. 1816R. Jameson Char. Min. (1817) 108 Of the single [three sided pyramid] we have examples in..copper-pyrites, etc. 1876Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. xv. 274 Marly flagstones often largely impregnated with copper-pyrites.
1770tr. Cronstedt's Min. 131 *Copper vitriol, blue vitriol. 1805R. Jameson Min. II. 34 If a plate of iron be inserted in a solution of copper-vitriol, it soon becomes incrusted with copper.
▪ II. † ˈcopper, n.2 Sc. Obs.
Also 6 -ar(e.
[f. cop n.1 or coppe, cup + -er.]
A cup-bearer.
1501Douglas Pal. Hon. iii. lviii, Mercie is copper and mixes weill his wine. 1528Lyndesay Dream Ded. 21 And, sumtyme, seware, Coppare, and Caruoure. 1513–75Diurn. Occurr. (1833) 104 The erle of Murray, coppar, and the erle of Bothwill, sewar.
▪ III. copper, n.3|ˈkɒpə(r)|
[f. cop n.2 3.]
In Spinning, a part of the mechanism which forms the ‘cop’.
1840Specif. Smith & Hacking's Patent No. 8426 The rise and fall of the ‘copper’ may be simultaneously adjusted in speed to accommodate the change in draft and twist.
▪ IV. copper, n.4 slang.|ˈkɒpə(r)|
[app. f. cop v.3; but other conjectures have been offered.]
A policeman; also attrib., as in copperstick, a policeman's truncheon. Hence, one who informs on fellow prisoners; a police informant; esp. to come copper or turn copper.
1846Sessions Papers 16 May 39, I have heard the police called coppers before. 1859Matsell Rogue's Lex. 21 (Farmer). 1864Manchester Courier 13 June (Farmer), As they pass a policeman they will..exhibit a copper coin, which is equivalent to calling the officer copper. 1881Standard 13 Jan. 2/7 Remarking that Withers and his brother constables were only ‘coppers out of uniform.’ 1882Ibid. 4 Sept. 2/5 A crowd followed, shouting out..‘Kick the Coppers’. 1885M. Davitt Prison Diary I. ii. 22 They never ‘round’ upon each other, while they hold all ‘coppers’ (prison informers) in detestation. 1887Pall Mall G. 22 Nov. 6/1 Specials..with ‘copper’ sticks in hand. 1891Sessions Papers 24 Oct. 1215 He has turned copper on us. 1924[see copper v.2 2]. 1938Sharpe Flying Squad 330 Copper, policeman. ‘To come copper’ means to inform. An informer is also described as ‘a copper’. 1958M. Procter Man in Ambush xvi. 196 If you come copper on Lionel, I'll come copper on you.
▪ V. copper, v.1|ˈkɒpə(r)|
[f. copper n.1]
1. a. trans. To cover with copper; to sheathe the bottom and sides of a ship with copper.
1530Palsgr. 498/2, I copper. 1781Westm. Mag. IX. 325 A very large frigate..the only one the Spaniards have coppered. 1809Med. Jrnl. XXI. 174 Coppering her bottom. 1862Macm. Mag. June, 167 A bronze statue and a cast-iron one coppered by electricity.
b. To colour by the use of a salt of copper.
1895Daily News 7 Feb. 5/2 The defendant assured the Bench..that the public ‘would not have them [sc. peas] without they were coppered’. 1900Westm. Gaz. 8 Sept. 2/3 The prohibition of the sale of ‘coppered’ vegetables. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXV. 92/1 Vendors of coppered peas.
2. In the game of faro: To lay a copper coin or other token upon (a card) to indicate that the player bets against that card; to bet against. (U.S.) Also absol. and fig.
1856Dem. State Jrnl. (Sacramento, Calif.) 25 July 2/3 It is a safe bet to ‘copper’ all that comes from the immaculate Committee. 1883‘Mark Twain’ Life Mississippi xxviii. 268, I reckon the safe way, where a man can afford it, is to copper the operation. 1892Correspt. in Cincinnati, If he bet the card to lose, he put an old-fashioned copper cent on the top of the silver or gold; in other words he ‘coppered’ it. To ‘copper’ a thing, therefore, is to bet or estimate that it will lose: you ‘copper’ a horse in a race. 1913C. E. Mulford Coming of Cassidy vii. 108 He had played to win when he should have coppered, coppered when he should have played to win. 1939P. A. Rollins Gone Haywire 48 Feeling sort o' mistaken sorry fer th' ol' tightwad..I coppered a bet fer 'im.
Hence ˈcoppering vbl. n. and ppl. a.; also as n. the copper sheathing of a ship's bottom.
c1865G. Gore in Circ. Sc. I. 213/1 Each room, whether for coppering, silvering, or gilding. Ibid. 233/1 They are then immersed in the..coppering liquid, and a thin film of copper is thrown down.
▪ VI. copper, v.2 slang.|ˈkɒpə(r)|
[f. copper n.4]
1. To arrest.
1872E. Crapsey Nether Side N.Y. iii. 17 They are..more frequently ‘coppered’—that is, arrested. 1962John o' London's 25 Jan. 8/2 ‘Arrest’ has many Cant synonyms including do,..copper.
2. To give information to the police. Also trans. to inform on (a person).
1897Sessions Papers 12 Feb. 359 Are you going to copper? 1923E. Wallace Missing Million xix. 159 My motto is: ‘Thou shalt not garden-hop...’ In plain English: ‘Thou shalt not copper.’ Ibid. xxvii. 211 It's no use your staying here, because I'm not going to copper anybody. 1924S. Scott Human Side Crook Life i. 23 ‘Coppering’, or turning informant, is the deadly sin among crooks... Men will listen to the vilest epithets, but call them ‘bogey’, ‘brassey’, ‘copper’, or ‘policeman’, and they will be at your throat. |