English
cop
Cop comes from English copper ‘police officer’, perhaps from the verb cop ‘to arrest or capture’, whose own origin is uncertain.
- English1500–presentcop‘to arrest or capture’uncertain
- English1500–presentcopper‘police officer’
- Englishearliest quotation 1918cop
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- English1500–presentcop‘to arrest or capture’uncertain
- English1500–presentcopper‘police officer’
- Englishearliest quotation 1918cop
Earliest quotation: 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding: “I take no shame to fight the lame /…”
Linked words
through Latin capiō ‘to seize, grasp’
cash, accept, receive, capable, cable, chase, capture, recipe, reception, perception, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, caption, susceptible, deception, cater, deceive, deceptive, deceit, preoccupation, receivable, captor, perceptible, captivate, preceptor, sashay, 25 more
Another origin of cop
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gew-‘arch, vault’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kuppaz‘vault, basin, round object’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kopp‘vessel, container, bowl’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150cop
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cop‘summit’
- Englishtodaycop
Today it means
verb To capture or arrest someone.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English cop / cop