Copper sb.¹

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.]

  1.  One of the well-known metals, distinguished by its peculiar red color; 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 (♀).

c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., III. 16. Gnid þa buteran on þæm hwetstane mid copore.

c. 1050.  OE. Gloss, in Wr.-Wülcker, 217/9. Cyprum coper, cyprinus cypren.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Can. Yeom. Prol. & T., 276. Saturnus leed, and Iuppiter is tyn, And Venus Coper, by my fader kyn.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 261. Þe hille þat coper [c 1450 copur] is idigged inne. Ibid. (1398), Barth. De P. R., XV. xl. (1495), 502. Cyprus … was full famouse and namly of metall of copre.

c. 1425.  Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 653/16. Hoc cuprum, copurre.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 92. Copyr, metalle, cuprum.

1485.  Malory, Arthur, II. xi. Xii ymages of laton and couper.

1552–3.  Inv. Ch. Goods, Stafford, 8. On crosse of coper. Ibid., 36. On crosse of cooper.

1590.  Nashe, Pasquil’s Apol., I. C iiij. Chawke may not beare the price of Cheese, nor copper be currant to go for paiment.

1611.  Bible, Transl. Pref., 3. Men talke … of the Philosophers stone, that it turneth copper into gold.

1767.  Byron’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.

1872.  Yeats, 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.

1706.  Phillips, Rose-Copper, a copper melted several times and separated from its gross and earthy Parts.

1730–6.  Bailey (folio), Burnt Copper (in Chymical Writings) is expressed by these Characters [characters].

1863–72.  Watts, 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.

1875.  Ure, 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.

1884.  Whitaker’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.

  2.  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.

[1588.  Shaks., L. L. L., IV. iii. 386. If so, our Copper buyes no better treasure.]

1712.  Steele, Spect., No. 509, ¶ 2. To chace the lads from chuck, that the beadle might seize their copper.

1788.  T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), II. 407. Neither had a wish to lay up a copper.

1827.  Hone, Every-day Bk., II. 67. He has ‘no more copper’ about him.

a. 1845.  Hood, Tale Trumpet, xxviii. Chucking a copper To Jack or Bob with a timber limb.

1876.  Besant & 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. 2); hence, a small disk, token or check, now used for the same purpose.

1892.  Correspt. at Cincinnati. The game is now played with ivory checks for money, and checkers or buttons as ‘coppers.’

  3.  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.

1667.  Lond. Gaz., No. 136/4. The New Invention of Major Thorny Franke, for the hanging of Coppers.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 320/2. The Brewing-Pan … is … of some called a Brewers Copper from the Metal which it is made of.

1697.  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.

1703.  Lond. Gaz., No. 3914/8. A convenient Sugar-house … and all Utensils, viz. Two Boiling Coppers, Three Cooling Coppers, Pots and Stones.

1796.  Mrs. Glasse, Cookery, iii. 26. When you boil a ham, put it into your copper when the water is pretty warm.

1833.  Marryat, P. Simple, xiv. What can you expect from officers who boil their ’tators in the ship’s coppers?

1875.  Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 508. Brewing, For every quarter of malt mashed, the copper should contain 140 gallons.

1881.  Mechanic, § 1219. Fixing coppers and ranges should be left to the professional bricklayer.

  b.  A copper mug or vessel for liquor.

1749.  R. Goadby, Carew (ed. 2), 142. Of the Butler they got a Copper of good Ale.

1809–12.  Mar. 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 plate of copper on which a design is engraved or etched. Cf. COPPER-PLATE.

1668.  Excellency 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.

1814.  Advt., 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.

1887.  F. Wedmore, in Academy, 19 Feb., 136/2. Certain of the coppers are known to have been destroyed.

  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.

1828.  Berry, Heraldry, I. Corporations: Gold and Silver Wire-drawers, az. on a chev. or, between two coppers in chief of the second.

1892.  G. 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.

1836.  Marryat, Pirate, vii. Through the clear … water her copper shone brightly.

  7.  Short for copper-butterfly.

1828.  Butterfly 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.

1872.  Wood, 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.

1530.  Palsgr., 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.

1578.  Whetstone, Promos & Cass., V. iv. Go to, Barber, no more, least copper you catch.

1831.  Capt. Trelawny, Adv. Younger Son, vii. Bring some grog to clear our coppers. Ibid., xcv. Upon which he turned a glass down his coppers.

1848.  Thackeray, Bk. Snobs, xxii. His smoking tea which went … hissing over the ‘hot coppers’ of that respectable veteran.

1861.  Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., iii. (1889), 22. A fellow can’t enjoy his breakfast after that without something to cool his coppers.

1890.  Besant, Demoniac, i. 22. In the repentant morning,… when hot coppers, fiery throats, disordered stomachs, parched tongues, and fevered brows are served out among sinners.

  II.  attrib. and Comb.

  9.  simple attrib. a. Made of copper; = OE. cyperen. (Formerly often hyphened.)

1579.  Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 191. There is copper coine of the stampe yat gold is, yet is it not currant.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., II. iv. 15. Shakt his long locks colourd like copper-wyre.

1624.  Capt. Smith, Virginia, I. 3. He gaue vs … for a Copper Kettell, fiftie skins.

a. 1649.  Drumm. of Hawth., Hist. Jas. III., Wks. (1711), 50. Copper-money was coined in the minority of the king.

1790.  J. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Epist. Sylv. Urban. One of Sir Joseph Banks’s Copper-farthing Oracles.

1877.  W. Jones, Finger-ring, 148. Wearing a copper ring.

  b.  Of or pertaining to copper. (Often hyphened.)

1720.  Gay, Poems (1745), I. 168. Next Oranges the longing boys entice To trust their copper fortunes to the dice.

1776.  Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), IV. 46. In the gallery of a copper mine.

1800.  trans. Lagrange’s Chem., II. 101. A green oxide, called Copper Rust, or Verdigrise.

1872.  Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 267. This copper district contains perhaps the richest copper ores in the world.

1887.  Pall Mall Gaz., 22 Dec., 12/1. Copper shares continue to fluctuate severely.

  † c.  Of copper as a base metal: often with the notion of spurious, pretentious, worthless. Obs.

[1603.  H. Crosse, Vertues Commw. (1878), 117. As these copper-lace gentlemen growe rich.]

1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., IV. iv. 107. Some with cunning guild their copper crownes.

1649.  Bp. Hall, Cases Consc., I. vi. 52. As if a man have sold you copper lace for gold; or alchymie-plate for silver.

1681.  Otway, Soldier’s Fort., I. i. Whores … in their Copper trim.

1764.  Goldsm., Trav., 276. Here vanity … trims her robe of frize with copper lace.

1799.  C. Winter, in W. Jay, Life (1843), 25. Beware of being golden apprentices, silver journeymen, and copper masters. [See also COPPER CAPTAIN.]

  d.  Copper-colored, coppery. (Cf. gold, silver.)

1699.  Dampier, Voy., II. I. vii. 128. They are … of a dark Indian copper colour.

1774.  Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), II. 229. The natives of America … are of a red or copper colour.

1798.  Coleridge, Anc. Mar., II. vii. All in a hot and copper sky.

1834.  Ht. Martineau, Farrers, iii. 39. The copper sun showed himself behind the opposite chimney.

  10.  General comb.: a. attributive, as copper-founder, -market, -miner, -office, -seller, -turner; b. objective, as copper-bearing, -smelting; c. instrumental, as copper-poisoning; d. similative, as copper-brown, -green, -red, yellow, adjs.; e. parasynthetic, as copper-bellied, -headed, -laced (cf. 9 c), -toed.

1887.  Daily News, 27 Sept., 2/1. The producers of *copper-bearing pyrites would be tempted to augment their sales of copper.

1842.  Prichard, Nat. Hist. Man, 20. Their colour is a dark copper, or *copper-brown.

1863.  Heroes, Philos. & Courtiers Louis XVI., II. 85. Cagliostro now married the daughter of a *copper-founder.

1843.  Portlock, Geol., 527. The rock is of a light *copper green.

1833.  A. Fonblanque, Eng. under 7 Administr. (1837), II. 382. Two new footmen, with … *copper-headed canes.

1602.  Dekker, Satirom., Wks. 1873, I. 244. These charitable *copper-lac’d Christians.

1629.  Davenant, Albovine, Wks. (1673), 416. Copper-lac’d Christians cannot personate Her Tragick Scenes.

1841.  Lane, Arab. Nts., I. 80. This I will sell in the *copper-market.

1716.  Lond. Gaz., No. 5414/3. The Governour and Company of *Copper-Miners in England.

1709.  Steele, Tatler, No. 61, ¶ 2. An honest and worthy Citizen belonging to the *Copper-Office.

1883.  Cassell’s Fam. Mag., July, 492/2. The feathers … are of shaded *copper-red.

1707.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4316/4. Midleton Shaw … *Copper-seller.

1870.  Yeats, Nat. Hist. Comm., 46. Swansea is the centre of the *copper-smelting.

1872.  O. W. Holmes, Poet Breakf.-t., ii. 65. *Copper-toed shoes they was too, because his poor little ten—toes—was a coming out of ’em.

1700.  in Maidment, Sc. Pasquils (1868), 359. From *copper turners, turned to golden guineas.

1882.  Garden, 25 March, 205/2. The pink and *copper-yellow Tea Roses.

  11.  Special comb. † copper-back = COPPER 3; copper-beech (see BEECH 1); copper-bellied, as in Copper-bellied Snake: see quots.; copper-bit, a pointed piece of copper, riveted to an iron shank, used in soldering; copper-butterfly (cf. sense 7), the common name of the species of the genus Lycæna, so called from the metallic coloring of their wings; copper-cap, a percussion-cap or gun-cap, orig. of copper: see CAP sb.¹ 14; copper-colic, a disease to which workers in copper are subject; copper-cut, a copper-plate engraving; † 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-man, (a) one who has the management of a copper or boiler; (b) an Australian prison term = COPPER sb.⁴; copper-piece, a copper coin; copper-powder, a precipitate of metallic copper, used in bronzing; copper-rein, 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-colored bituminous schist impregnated with copper-ore, found in Saxony; 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-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.

1743.  Lond. & Country Brewer, III. (ed. 2), 211. He had secured the square Hole in the Middle of his *Copper-back.

1846.  J. Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), II. 333. *Copper beech … purple-beech.

1881.  Illust. Lond. News, 28 March, 332/2. Under the shade of cedars and copper beeches.

1705.  R. Beverley, Virginia (1722), 260. The *Copper-bellied Snake … said to be as venemous as the Rattle-Snake.

1802.  G. Shaw, Gen. Zool. Amphib., III. 458. (Coluber erythrogaster), The Copper-bellied Snake is a native of North America.

1881.  Mechanic, § 1505. The soldering-iron, or *copper-bit as it is sometimes called.

c. 1826.  [see CAP sb.¹ 14] *Copper cap.

1858.  Greener, Gunnery, 437. Copper caps are now a misnomer…. Brass caps boiled to the colour of copper are the rule.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 257/1. Drawn in all fantastick pieces and *Copper-Cuts.

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., III. iii. The gaping populace gapes over Wood-cuts or Copper-cuts.

1544.  Phaër, Regim. Lyfe (1546), B viij. As touchynge a disease called Gutta rosacea, or *Copperface in english.

1602.  Dekker, Satirom., Wks. 1873, I. 199. The *copper-fac’t rascal will for a good supper outsweare twelve dozen of graund Juryes.

1796.  Hull Advertiser, 9 July, 2/4. She is *copper-fastened and copper-bottomed, and a remarkable fine ship.

1876.  Daily News, 4 Dec., 6/5. She was copper-fastened and coppered, the copper sheathing being but very slightly torn.

1702.  R. Thoresby, in Phil. Trans., XXIII. 1072. My said Cousin receiv’d it from the *Copper Groves at Fallum.

1820.  Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 402, note. The platform built around the edge of the copper, is called the *copper-head.

1884.  Sat. Rev., 1 March, 275. Minor gambling-houses … were popularly known by the ugly name of *‘copper-hells.’

1785.  Specif. J. Phillips’ Patent, No. 1477. That species of stoves or fire places commonly called *copper holes or stoke holes.

1890.  Daily News, 30 Sept., 2/5. The advance … on sound useful *copper hops.

1799.  Southey, Nondescripts, iii. My poor complexion! I am made a *copper-Indian of already.

1799.  G. Smith, Laboratory, 56. The *copper-man who has the boiling them under his care and management, puts them in a large copper.

1724.  Swift, Drapier’s Lett., Wks. 1755, V. II. 117. A parcel of *copper-pieces intrinsically not worth above a crown.

1875.  Ure, Dict. Arts, I. 923. Smelting of the Mansfeld *copper-schist…. The *copper-slate is sorted, according to its composition.

1873.  Dawson, Earth & Man, vii. 167. The copper slates of Thuringia.

1765.  H. Timberlake, Mem., 46. There are … a great number of reptiles, particularly the *copper-snake.

1806.  Moore, Lake of Dismal Swamp, v. The she-wolf stirred the brake, And the copper-snake breathed in his ear.

1631.  Jorden, Nat. Bathes, x. (1669), 70. We have but one *Copper work that I hear of in all his Majesties Dominions, and that is at Keswick in Cumberland.

1716.  Lond. Gaz., No. 5425/9. The Lease for the Cupilo, or Copper-Works … are to be Let.

1774.  Johnson, 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, carbonate, chloride, oxide, sulphate, 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 sulph-arsenite 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.

1805.  R. 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.

1728.  Woodward, Catal. Foreign Fossils, 25. *Copper-nicol.

1776.  Seiferth, trans. Gellert’s Metal. Chym., 47. Copper-nickel contains sometimes a good deal of copper. Ibid., 391. *Copper-pyrite.

1795.  Kirwan, Min., II. 141. Copper pyrites projected on burning coals … gives a green color to flame.

1816.  R. Jameson, Char. Min. (1817), 108. Of the single [three sided pyramid] we have examples in … copper-pyrites, [etc.].

1876.  Page, Adv. Text-bk. Geol., xv. 274. Marly flagstones, often largely impregnated with *copper-pyrites.

1770.  trans. Cronstedt’s Min., 131. *Copper vitriol, blue vitriol.

1805.  R. Jameson, Min., II. 34. If a plate of iron be inserted in a solution of copper-vitriol, it soon becomes incrusted with copper.