copy

noun \ ˈkä-pē \

|Updated on: 7 Aug 2018

Definition of copy

plural copies

1 : an imitation, transcript, or reproduction of an original work (such as a letter, a painting, a table, or a dress)

2 : one of a series of especially mechanical reproductions of an original impression; also : an individual example of such a reproduction

3 archaic : something to be imitated : model

4 a : matter to be set especially for printing

b : something considered printable or newsworthy —used without an article

remarks that make good copy
—Norman Cousins

c : text especially of an advertisement

5 : duplicate 1a

a copy of a computer file

a copy of a gene

See copy defined for English-language learners

See copy defined for kids

Examples of copy in a Sentence

The novel has sold more than a million copies.
She got a job writing advertising copy.
All copy must be submitted by 5 p.m.

Recent Examples of copy from the Web

The debut set from the RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant (season 10) sold 1,000 copies in the week ending July 5, according to Nielsen Music.

— gordon murray, Billboard, "Sabrina Carpenter & Jonas Blue Take 'Alien' to No. 1 on Dance Club Songs Chart," 12 July 2018
The album sold 732,000 copies in the US, taking the spot for the largest debut in 2018, and Drake now owns four of the top 10 streaming weeks ever for an album, according to Billboard.

— micah singleton, The Verge, "Drake’s Scorpion pulls in over 1 billion streams in its first week," 8 July 2018
Of that, $11,990 will be to design a new brochure, print 100,000 copies of that brochure, and distribute the brochure to 536 locations including racks at San Diego International Airport, and $5,300 will be used for Website improvements.

— joe naiman, Ramona Sentinel, "Eight nonprofits receive $251,806 in hotel tax money," 3 July 2018
But there’s no reason to suggest that Trump sold more than a couple hundred copies of Spicer’s book, given its sales ranking peak of 2,000 (and that’s a fairly generous estimate).

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "Donald Trump is excellent at selling books that trash him; mediocre at selling books that praise him.," 2 July 2018
After exhausting that print run quickly, another 5,000 copies printed afterward disappeared equally fast.

— johnforristerross, Longreads, "Taming the Great American Desert," 2 July 2018
Smith’s 2016 album Something Beautiful sold over 54,000 copies in its first week of release, making it the biggest debut album ever for a Voice winner.

— nicole sands, PEOPLE.com, "Jordan Smith Releases New Song 'Only Love' — the First Single from His Upcoming Third Album," 28 June 2018
DeWitt’s debut novel, The Last Samurai—which, despite the title, has nothing to do with Japan—was a sensation in 2000, earning rave reviews and selling some 100,000 copies.

— adam kirsch, The Atlantic, "The Anguished Comedy of Helen DeWitt," 25 June 2018
Around 500,000 copies of LINE1 are strewn around our genome, many of which are inside genes, notes molecular human geneticist Haig Kazazian of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

— mitch leslie, Science | AAAS, "Don’t call it junk—This ‘jumping’ gene may be why you made it past an embryo," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'copy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of copy

Middle English copie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin copia, from Latin, abundance — more at copious

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

copy Synonyms

Synonyms

carbon, carbon copy, clone, dummy, dupe, duplicate, duplication, facsimile, imitation, mock, reduplication, replica, replication, reproduction;

Antonyms

archetype, original, prototype;

miniature, mock-up, simulation;

reconstruction, re-creation;

image, likeness, semblance, shadow;

impression, imprint, print;

approximation, reincarnation, version;

extra, reserve, spare;

Synonym Discussion of copy

reproduction, duplicate, copy, facsimile, replica mean a thing made to closely resemble another. reproduction implies an exact or close imitation of an existing thing.

- reproductions from the museum's furniture collection

duplicate implies a double or counterpart exactly corresponding to another thing.

- a duplicate of a house key

copy applies especially to one of a number of things reproduced mechanically.

- printed 1000 copies of the lithograph

facsimile suggests a close reproduction often of graphic matter that may differ in scale.

- a facsimile of a rare book

replica implies the exact reproduction of a particular item in all details

- a replica of the Mayflower

but not always in the same scale.

- miniature replicas of classic cars

copy

verb

Definition of copy

copied; copying

transitive verb

1 : to make a copy or duplicate of

copy a document

copy a computer file

2 : to model oneself on

intransitive verb

1 : to make a copy

2 : to undergo copying

the map did not copy well

See copy defined for English-language learners

Examples of copy in a Sentence

She copied the design on a piece of paper.
Copy the file to your hard drive.
The bills are designed to prevent copying by counterfeiters.
We caught him copying the answers out of the book.
We caught him copying out of the book.
The speech was copied word for word.
His music was copied widely.
Their competitors soon copied the idea.

Recent Examples of copy from the Web

The 87 carbon-copied, prison transfer records found in the police station are an archive of religious zeal.

— rukmini callimachi, New York Times, "The Case of the Purloined Poultry: How ISIS Prosecuted Petty Crime," 1 July 2018
According to the affidavit, the IT director explained that the protocol when a first selectman leaves includes copying all the old files for the new first selectman.

— nicholas rondinone, courant.com, "Former Stafford First Selectman Charged With Deleting Official Files, Emails," 25 June 2018
Facebook’s tendency to ape competing products can be a major threat to smaller companies; Snapchat’s recent troubles have been attributed in part to Facebook copying many of its features.

— bloomberg, Fortune, "Tinder's Parent Company Is Buying an Anti-Tinder Dating App," 21 June 2018
Onstage at Code Conference last week, Snap’s Evan Spiegel couldn’t resist ribbing Facebook, which has famously copied many of Snapchat’s most successful features.

— maya kosoff, The Hive, "How Silicon Valley’s Petty Feud with Mark Zuckerberg Could Backfire," 5 June 2018
Le Dolci designed a four-tier, topsy-turvy cake, copying the font and characters from the book, even down to a little fondant copy of the story's protagonist, with a balloon in one hand and his arm outstretched.

— candace braun davison, House Beautiful, "Property Brother Drew Scott On The Moment He Knew Linda Phan Was The One," 2 May 2018
Inside, tall, silent, all-white drone hosts are extracting the brains of offline hosts and copying their data.

— sandra upson, WIRED, "Westworld Recap, Season 2 Episode 1: No More Heroes," 23 Apr. 2018
Additionally, the office has a phone, fax machine and copy center on site for candidates to communicate with potential employers.

— austen erblat, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Goodwill adds Job Connection office to Delray Beach location," 12 July 2018
Thieves can buy legitimate devices that amplify the fob signal sitting unprotected in a purse, a pocket, on a counter at home or even just copy the code to access the vehicle.

— phoebe wall howard, ajc, "Why you might want to wrap your car key fob in foil," 8 July 2018

First Known Use of copy

14th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

copy Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of copy

copy, imitate, mimic, ape, mock mean to make something so that it resembles an existing thing. copy suggests duplicating an original as nearly as possible.

- copied the painting and sold the fake as an original

imitate suggests following a model or a pattern but may allow for some variation.

- imitate a poet's style

mimic implies a close copying (as of voice or mannerism) often for fun, ridicule, or lifelike imitation.

- pupils mimicking their teacher

ape may suggest presumptuous, slavish, or inept imitating of a superior original.

- American fashion designers aped their European colleagues

mock usually implies imitation with derision.

- mocking a vain man's pompous manner

COPY Defined for English Language Learners

copy

noun

Definition of copy for English Language Learners

: something that is or looks exactly or almost exactly like something else : a version of something that is identical or almost identical to the original
: one of the many books, magazines, albums, DVDs, etc., that are exactly the same and are produced to be sold or given to the public
: written information that is to be published in a newspaper, magazine, etc.

copy

verb

Definition of copy for English Language Learners

: to make a version of (something) that is exactly or almost exactly like the original : to make a copy or duplicate of (something)
: to write (something) down exactly as it appears somewhere else
: to use (someone else's words or ideas) as your own