copper的词源

英文词源

copper

copper: [OE] A major source of copper in the ancient world was the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, so the Romans called it cyprium aes ‘metal of Cyprus’. This became cuprum in late Latin, from which it was borrowed into prehistoric West and North Germanic as *kupar, source of Old English coper. (Copper the slang term for ‘policeman’ [19] is simply the agent noun formed from the verb cop ‘seize’, which probably comes via Old French caper from Latin capere ‘seize, take’, source of English capture.)

copper (n.1)

malleable metallic element, Old English coper, from Proto-Germanic *kupar (cognates: Middle Dutch koper, Old Norse koparr, Old High German kupfar), from Late Latin cuprum, contraction of Latin Cyprium (aes) "Cyprian (metal)," after Greek Kyprios "Cyprus" (see Cyprus).

Latin aes originally was "copper," but this was extended to its alloy with tin, bronze, and as this was far more extensively used than pure copper, the word's primary sense shifted to the alloy and a new word evolved for "copper," from the Latin form of the name of the island of Cyprus, where copper was mined. Aes passed into Germanic (which originally did not distinguish copper from its alloys) and became English ore. In Latin, aes was the common word for "cash, coin, debt, wages" in many figurative expressions. Chemical symbol Cu is from cuprum.

copper (n.2)

"policeman," 1846; agent noun from cop (v.).

中文词源

copper（铜）：生产铜的塞浦路斯岛

地中海东部的塞浦路斯岛（Cyprus Island）在古代是世界上主要的铜产地之一。公元前6世纪，古罗马人占领了塞浦路斯岛，大量开采岛上的铜矿，用来铸造钱币。塞浦路斯在希腊语中被称为Kyprios，在拉丁语中拼写为Cyprium。塞浦路斯岛上的铜就被称为Cyprium aes（塞浦路斯矿石），后来在拉丁语中被缩略为cuprum。英语单词copper就来源于此。英语中与铜有关的另一个单词是bronze，表示“青铜”，是用铜和锡、铅的合金，比铜更加结实耐用。

copper： ['kɒpə] n.铜，铜币adj.铜的vt.镀铜于

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：copper 词源，copper 含义。

copper：铜

来自拉丁词Cyprian, 因产自Cyprus而得名。

copper：铜　　

古代的塞浦路斯岛以盛产铜著称于世，是古代世界铜的主要产地之一。公元前58年古罗马人并吞了该岛。由于他们使用的铜几乎全部来自该岛，故将铜称为Cyprium aes，意思是metal of Cyprus（塞浦路斯金属），后来缩写成Cyprium，最后讹转为cuprum。英语copper 一词即源于此，在古英语作coper。

copper：铜

位于地中海东部的塞浦路斯岛（Cyprus）因盛产丝柏树（cypress），由此得名；而塞浦路斯岛在历史上曾是赫赫有名的产铜中心，单词copper（铜）与该岛名同源，来自拉丁语cuprum，本义为“塞浦路斯的金属”。