Etymograph

English

copy

Copy comes from Old French copie, from Medieval Latin copia ‘transcript’, from Latin cōpia ‘plenty’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opisreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEops‘strength, power; wealth’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōps‘abounding in, rich’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōpia‘abundance, plenty’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500copia‘reproduction, transcript’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400copie‘abundance; transcript, copy’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500copy
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1599copy

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opisreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEops‘strength, power; wealth’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōps‘abounding in, rich’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōpia‘abundance, plenty’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500copia‘reproduction, transcript’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400copie‘abundance; transcript, copy’
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500copy
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1599copy

Earliest quotation: 1599, B. I. [i.e.: “[S]he was bleſt with no more Copie of wit,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’

bus, operation, operate, operator, opera, omnibus, oeuvre, opus, omnivore, 22 more

through Proto-Italic *opis

officer, 9 more

through Latin ops

office, official, optimum, opulent, officiate, opulence, officiant, officious, 10 more

through Medieval Latin copia ‘reproduction, transcript’

copious, 2 more

Another origin of copy

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opisreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEops
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōps‘abounding in, rich, copious’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōpia‘supply, abundance, copiousness, wealth, riches’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōpiō‘to copy’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400copier
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500copien‘to copy’
  9. Englishtodaycopy

Today it means

noun The result of copying; an identical or nearly identical duplicate of an original.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- / copy

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