copy

Etymology

From Middle English copy, copie, from Old French copie (“abundance, plenty; transcript, copy”), from Medieval Latin copia (“reproduction, transcript”), from Latin cōpia (“plenty, abundance”), from *coopia, from co- (“together”) + ops (“wealth, riches”). More at opulent.

noun

1. The result of copying; an identical duplicate of an original.
   Please bring me the copies of those reports.
   I have not the vanity to think my copy equal to the original. 1656, John Denham, preface to The Destruction of Troy
2. An imitation, sometimes of inferior quality.
   That handbag is a copy. You can tell because the buckle is different.
3. (journalism) The text that is to be typeset.
4. (journalism) A gender-neutral abbreviation for copy boy.
5. (marketing, advertising) The output of copywriters, who are employed to write material which encourages consumers to buy goods or services.
6. (uncountable) The text of newspaper articles.
   Submit all copy to the appropriate editor.
7. A school work pad.
   Tim got in trouble for forgetting his maths copy.
8. A printed edition of a book or magazine.
   Have you seen the latest copy of "Newsweek" yet?
   The library has several copies of the Bible.
9. Writing paper of a particular size, called also bastard.
10. (obsolete) That which is to be imitated, transcribed, or reproduced; a pattern, model, or example.
    His virtues are an excellent copy for imitation.
11. (obsolete) An abundance or plenty of anything.
12. (obsolete) copyhold; tenure; lease
13. (genetics) The result of gene or chromosomal duplication.

verb

1. (transitive) To produce an object identical to a given object.
   Please copy these reports for me.
   [Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes. The truth is that Newton was very much a product of his time. 2014-06-21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892
2. (transitive) To give or transmit a copy to (a person).
   Make sure you copy me on that important memo.
3. (transitive, computing) To place a copy of an object in memory for later use.
   First copy the files, and then paste them in another directory.
4. (transitive) To imitate.
   Don't copy my dance moves.
   Mom, he's copying me!
   We copy instinctively the voices of our companions, their accents, and their modes of pronunciation. 1793, Dugald Stewart, Outlines of Moral Philosophy
5. (radio) To receive a transmission successfully.
   Do you copy?