# cop

> English word · Verb · IPA /kɒp/ · frequency rank #3,804

## Definitions
1. to capture or arrest someone
2. To obtain, to purchase (items including but not limited to drugs), to get hold of, to take.
3. To (be forced to) take; to receive; to shoulder; to bear, especially blame or punishment for a particular instance of wrongdoing.
4. To see and record a railway locomotive for the first time.
5. To steal.
6. To adopt.
7. To admit, especially to a crime or wrongdoing.
8. To recruit a prostitute into the stable.
9. To take (a look, glance, etc.).

## Etymology
Uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English *coppen, *copen, from Old English copian (“to plunder; pillage; steal”); or possibly from Middle French caper (“to capture”), from Latin capiō (“to seize, grasp”); or possibly from Dutch kapen (“to seize, hijack”), from Old Frisian kāpia (“to buy”), whence West Frisian keapje, Saterland Frisian koopje, North Frisian koopi, kuupe. Compare also Middle English copen (“to buy”), from Middle Dutch copen.

## Easily confused with
- **CT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-ct)
- **CR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cr)
- **cs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cs)
- **cp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cp)
- **CV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cv)
- **CU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cu)
- **CW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cw)
- **CX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cx)
- **cz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cz)
- **CQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cq)
- **cut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cut)
- **cup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cup)
- **cry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cry)
- **cow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cow)
- **cos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cos)
- **cum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cum)
- **cox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cox)
- **cuz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cuz)
- **cue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cue)
- **CPU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cop-vs-cpu)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cop