copy
/ˈkɑpi/noun, verb
copy is spelled C-O-P-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is cpoy: about 40 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 233 of all searches for the word. Copy is a noun meaning “The result of copying; an identical or nearly identical duplicate of an original”. The plural of copy is copies.
How many letters and syllables are in copy?
| Letters | 4: C-O-P-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 59 times per million words; the 1,758th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, cpoy, about 40 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell copy?
Copy is spelled C-O-P-Y. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 233 of the searches for copy in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is copy?
Copy appears 59 times per million words in written English, the 1,758th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce copy?
- UK /ˈkɒpi/
- US /ˈkɑpi/
Copy has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-copy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with copy?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as copy from its last stressed vowel (/ɑpi/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of copy
- copies plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- coppy
- coppie
- copie
- copying participle, present
- copied participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does copy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The result of copying; an identical or nearly identical duplicate of an original.
Please bring me at least 200 copies of this report. The photocopier is down the hall on the right.
- 2
The result of gene or chromosomal duplication.
Every cell in this organism contains a copy of each gene, but whether that copy will be expressed depends on complex factors of cell differentiation and epigenetics.
- 3
An imitation, sometimes of inferior quality.
That handbag is a copy. You can tell because the buckle is different.
- 4
The text (words, content) that is to be typeset or similarly prepared and published.
This organization doesn't publish any copy that hasn't been edited by a good copy editor.
- 5
The output of copywriters, who are employed to write material which encourages consumers to buy goods or services.
ad copy; advertising copy
- 6
The text to be set into newspaper articles, magazine pages, or similar.
Submit all copy to the appropriate editor.
- 7
A person employed to carry copy and run errands.
- 8
A schoolwork pad or workbook.
Tim got in trouble for forgetting his maths copy.
verb
- 1
To produce an object identical to a given object.
Please copy these reports for me.
- 2
To give or transmit a copy to (a person).
Make sure you copy me on that important memo.
- 3
To place a copy of an object in memory for later use.
First copy the files, and then paste them in another directory.
- 4
To imitate.
Don't copy my dance moves.
- 5
To receive a transmission successfully.
Do you copy?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Copy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | copie , exemplaire, numéro , copier , imiter , recevoir |
| German | Kopie , Exemplar , kopieren , nachmachen, nachahmen , Nachahmung |
| Portuguese | cópia , exemplar , copiar , réplica , texto, redação |
| Spanish | copia, trasunto , ejemplar , copiar, trasuntar , imitar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does copy come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).