▪ I. cope, n.1
(kəʊp)
Forms: 3–4 cape, 3– cope; 4– northern cape, (caip, kape, kaip); also 3 kope, 4 coepe, 4–6 coppe, 5–7 coope, 6–7 coape.
[In 12th c. cāpe (pl. capen), ME. cōpe, repr. an OE. *cápe wk. fem., not exemplified (cf. ON. kápa, Dan. kaabe), a. med.L. cāpa cope, as to which see cap.
Cápe, if in OE., must have been a late word, introduced after cāpa ‘cope’ became the prevalent form and sense in med.L. (see Du Cange), long after cappa in its earlier form and sense gave cæppe cap. Cf. cantelcapas in O.E. Chron. an. 1070: see cantel-cape. The ME. forms might be from ON. kápa, but this is an unlikely source. The phonetic series L. cāpa, OE. cápe, ME. cape, cope, mod. cope, Sc. cape, caip, is parallel to L. pāpa, OE. pápa, ME. pape, pope, mod. pope, Sc. pape, paip.]
† 1. a. A long cloak or cape worn as an outer garment, chiefly out of doors. Obs. Cf. cape.
(By the 16th c. translators used to render χλαµύς and toga.)
| c 1205 Lay. 7782 A cniht mid his capen. c 1275 ― On cniht mid his cope. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 46 A route Of ladies..In kirtles and in copes riche They weren clothed alle aliche. 1466 Paston Lett. No. 549 II. 270 Cloth for a ridyng cope for himself. 1535 Coverdale Isa. xxx. 22 Yf ye destroye the syluer workes of youre Idols, and cast awaye the golden coapes that ye deckt them withall. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. (1877) 27 (D.) Xantippe had pulled awaie her housebandes cope from his backe, even in the open strete. Ibid. 47 The side robe or cope of homely and course clothe soche as the beggerie philosophiers, and none els vsen to weare. 1575 Brieff Disc. Troubl. Franckford (1846) 203 Copes and garments as well for the common use as for the ministerie. 1745 Baker Don Quix. I. i. v. 31 This curious Cap and his fine brocard Cope will make him outshine the Sun-Dial. |
† b. As the special dress of a monk or friar. Obs.
(quire cope = cappa choralis.)
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 56 Ȝif he haueð enne widne hod & one ilokene cope. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 227/274 Monekes it weren ech-on, And yreuested faire and in queor-copes. c 1315 Shoreham 110 Under couele and cope The foule prede lythe. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 262 Ffor there he [the Frere] was nat lyk a Cloystrer With a thredbare cope as is a poure scoler. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 292 Seyn þat þey folwen fully Fraunceses rewle, Þat in cotynge of his cope is more cloþ y-folden Þan was in Fraunces froc. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7412 Doen on the cope of a frere. |
c. In the University of Cambridge, a cape or tippet of ermine worn by doctors of divinity on certain special occasions.
| 1798 A. Wall Ceremonies Univ. Camb. (1828) 39 The Vice-Chancellor is in his cope. Ibid. 80 After the Service, they return to the Vestry, where the Doctors in Divinity change their copes for their Scarlet gowns, and the Proctors their Congregation habit for their hoods squared. |
2. Eccl. A vestment of silk or other material resembling a long cloak made of a semicircular piece of cloth, worn by ecclesiastics in processions, also at Vespers, and on some other occasions.
| [1868 Marriott Vest. Chr. 167 The name pluviale..and ..cappa, and our own cope point to the origin of the vestment as originally worn out of doors as a protection from the weather.] |
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 134/954 Þo seint thomas hadde is masse i-songue his chesible he gan of weue; All is oþur uestimenz, on him he let bi-leue..A-boue he caste is cope. 1382 Wyclif Wisd. xviii. 24 In the clothing of the preest coepe, that he hadde, was al the roundnesse of erthis. c 1460 Churchw. Acc. St. Andrew's, East Cheap (in Brit. Mag. XXXI. 397), For amendyng of Coopis & vestimentts xvjd. 1527 in Pocock Rec. Ref. I. xxvi. 54 Four of the doctors prebendaries of the said Paules in coppes and grey amys. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion Rubric, The Priest..shall put upon hym the vesture appointed for that ministration, that is to say, a white Albe plain, with a vestment or Cope. 1562 Paper prepared for Synod in Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxvii. 318 That the vse of vestments, copes and surplices, be from henceforth taken away. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 300 A most solemne marche, and pompous procession: wherein..there wanted neither Coape nor Canapie. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 84 Coapes and costly vestments decke the hoarsest and beggerlyest singing-man. 1603 Const. & Canons Eccles. No. 24 Copes to be worn in cathedral churches by those that administer the Communion. 1625 Purchas Pilgrims ii. 1409 After them came..Friers in their rich Coapes singing, carrying many Pictures and Lights. 1629 P. Smart Treat. Altars 8 If we doe, then may we also admit to the administration of the holy Communion, instead of decent Copes, ridiculous piebald vestments. 1838 Coronation Service in Maskell Mon. Rit. (1847) III. 88 The Archbishop goeth to the Altar and puts on his Cope. 1885 Catholic Dict. s.v., The cope is used in processions by those who assist the celebrant, by cantors at vespers, etc., so that it is by no means a distinctively sacerdotal vestment. |
¶ Often erroneously used as a historical term, where chasuble or pallium would be correct as a matter of fact.
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Casulla, a cope for a priest, læna. 1826 Milman A. Boleyn (1827) 13, I saw the Arch⁓heretic, enrobed In the cope and pall of mitred Canterbury, Lift the dread Host with misbelieving hands. 1862 H. Marryat Year in Sweden I. 311 He arranged..that the Swedish primate should receive the cope, sent by the pontiff, from the hands of her archbishop. |
† 3. A cover for a table, a table-cloth. Obs. rare.
| c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 690 in Babees Bk. 322 At aþer ende he [the pantere] castes a cope Layde downe on borde, the endys plyed up. |
4. fig. (In cope of night, the primary notion was app. ‘cloak’; but in later use, that of ‘canopy’ or ‘vault’ appears to be sometimes present; cf. sense 7.)
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 101 This Yris..Her reiny cope did upon. c 1400 Test. Love i. (1560) 275 b/1 The cope of tene is wound about all my body. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxiii, Night aprocheth with his coopes dunne. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 45 Whom though you..enriche with a great dower of wordes, and decke with gay copes of sentences. 1704 Addison Poems, Campaign Misc. Wks. 1726 I. 74 Till the dark cope of night with kind embrace, Befriends the rout and covers their disgrace. a 1843 Southey Inscriptions xxv, The second night drew over them Its sheltering cope. 1866 Alger Solit. Nat. & Man iv. 282 Under the cope of midnight. |
† 5. cope of lead: a leaden coffin. Obs.
Only Sc.: usually in form cape, caip.
| c 1450 Henryson in Bannatyne Poems 135 And to the deid, to lurk vnder thy caip, I offer me with hairt richt humily. 1536 Bellenden Chron. Scot. xvi. xix, He miserabilly deceasit, and wes brocht in ane caip of leid in [= into] Ingland. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. (1846) I. 179 It was thowght best, to keap him frome styncking, to geve him great salt ynewcht, [and] a cope of lead. |
† 6. A covering of vaulted form; a vault. Obs.
| 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour L v b, They [two quenes] were take and putte under a grete and heuy coope of lede, and there they deyd of an euylle dethe. 1578 Banister Hist. Man iv. 62 The vi [muscle]..runneth vnder the coope, or vaulte of the wrest of the hand. |
7. a. cope of heaven: the over-arching canopy or vault of heaven. Cf. canopy 2 b, vault.
under the cope of heaven = ‘under heaven, in all the world’: an exceedingly common phrase from 14th to 18th c.
| c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 3 Oþer housis hadde he noon but þis wildernesse and cope [v.r. coope] of hevene. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1527 (Hyps. & Medea) Undyr the cope of heven that is above. 1460 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 97 The grettest Clerke..vnder heuen cope. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxvii. 574 Ther is not your leke vnder the cope of heven. 1549 Compl. Scot. Ded. 3 The maist vailȝeant princis that ar vndir the cape of hauyn. 1571 Campion Hist. Irel. ii. ix. (1633) 115, I serve under the cope of heaven, when you are served under a Canopy. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 1228 Whatso the heauen in his wide cope containes. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xiv. vi. 10 From all parts of the wide world..within the cope and curtaine of heaven. c 1611 Chapman Iliad v. 773 Betwixt the cope of stars and earth. 1666 Bunyan Grace Abounding (1879) 389 Whether there be..a Woman breathing under the Copes of the whole Heaven. 1771 T. Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 106 Without any other cover than the cope of heaven. 1829 H. Neele Lit. Rem. 314 The arch of Heaven's wide cope. 1880 Swinburne Stud. Song 38 Darkening the sky To the extreme azure of all its cloudless cope. |
b. Also simply the cope.
| 1596 Spenser Hymn Hon. Love 95 All these things that are contained Within this goodly cope. 1608 Shakes. Per. iv. vi. 132 The cheapest country under the cope. 1657 Cokaine Obst. Lady ii. i, The most insatiable gluttons under the Cope. 1735 Thomson Liberty iv. 1177 Exalted as the cope That swells immense o'er many-peopled earth. 1827 Pollock Course of T. x, The cope, above and round about, was calm. 1867 G. Macdonald Songs of Summer Days iv. ii, Slow clouds from north and south appear..And climb the vaulted cope. |
¶ c. In later usage, apparently, vaguely used for (a) vertex, height (as if confused with cop); (b) firmament, expanse.
| 1603 Breton Post w. Packet Lett., Of Love, Sweete Ladie, If the reach of my capacitie could clime the Cope of your favoure. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 68 Not from the temporall skie and firmament, but even from the highest Cope of heaven. 1730 Thomson Autumn 25 From heaven's high cope the fierce effulgence shook. |
| 1816 Coleridge Lay Serm. 343 He..can as little appropriate it..as he can claim ownership in the breathing air, or make an inclosure in the cope of heaven. 1830 Tennyson Poems 81 Larks in heaven's cope Sing. |
d. A vault or canopy like that of the sky.
| 1658 Marvell Poems, Appleton House, Under this Attic cope I move. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 345 Bad Angels seen Hovering on wing under the Cope of Hell. Ibid. vi. 215 So under fierie Cope together rush'd Both Battels maine. 1847 Longfellow Ev. ii. ii. 79 Over them, vast and high, extended the cope of a cedar. |
8. Founding. The outer portion or case of a mould; the outer mould in bell-founding.
| 1856 Penny Post Nov. (Ellacombe), In the case of the large Westminster bell, the cope was of iron, with the interior covered with a composition of clay and sand, etc. 1857 W. C. Lukis Acc. Ch. Bells 21 The outer mould or cope is formed. 1872 Ellacombe Ch. Bells Devon 200 The cope fitted over the core, like an extinguisher over a candle, with a vacuum left between them to receive the fused metal. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss. s.v. Drag., The mould having been prepared in the two parts of the flask, the cope is put upon the drag before casting. After casting, the flask is opened by removing the cope. 1889 Notes Building Constr. III. 269 The outer brick cope..is..lifted away. |
† 9. A superficial deposit considered as a covering or coating of the stratum beneath: cf. coping.
| 1631 Markham Weald of Kent ii. i. 7 Some of them [marls] have over them a cover of ground, which we call Cope. Ibid., A cold stiff and wet clay, which is either the Cope of the Marl or lieth near unto it..commonly called The Marl Cope ground. |
10. The coping of a wall, etc. (dial. cape).
| 1847–78 Halliwell, Cape, the coping of a wall. 1877 E. Peacock N.W. Linc. Gloss., Cape, Capeing, the coping-stones of a wall or other building. 1880 L. Wallace Ben-Hur 351 Solid wall..with a balustrade on its cope. |
11. Comb. (sense 2), as cope-chest, cope-maker, cope-work; cope bead (see quot.); cope-box, a box for holding copes, a cope-chest.
| 1551–60 Invent. Sir H. Parkers in Hall Elizabeth. Soc. (1887) 151 A Tester of blewe and white velvett, panyd & embroderid with Cope worcke of gould. 1628 Canterbury Marriage Licences (MS.), John Salter of Canterbury cope-maker. 1865 Athenæum No. 1941. 24/2 Armoire, cope-chest, stalls. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 163 The mediæval quadrant-shaped cope-chests. 1885 Spon's Mechanic's Own Bk. 374 The other drawers..receive a 1/8-in. mahogany beading all round. This is called a ‘cope bead’. 1893 T. Fowler Hist. C.C.C. 246 A Cope-box purchased for the College. |
▪ II. † cope, n.2 Obs.
[Either f. cope v.2, or immediately a. F. coup, OF. also colp, cop, blow, stroke, shock, etc.]
The shock of combat; encounter. Also fig.
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clxviii. [clxiv.] 469 They ran togyder and met so rudely y{supt} their horses stayed with y⊇ cope. Ibid. 475 The seconde cope they attaynted eche other on the helmes that the fyre flewe oute. 1594 Sec. Rep. Dr. Faustus in Thoms Prose Rom. (1858) III. 408 In the cope all the four Janisaries were run quite thorow and thorow. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais Prol., Books..in the cope and encounter somewhat difficult. Ibid. (1859) I. 181 He fought at barriers..and when it came to the cope, he stood so sturdily on his feet. 1773 J. Ross Fratricide iv. 310 (MS.) Bent on the signal cope and steel'd with guilt. |
† b. to gain cope of: to gain the advantage over.
| c 1610 T. Adams Wks. (1861) I. 350 (D.) We should gain cope of them, and outrun them. |
▪ III. cope, n.3 Obs. or dial.
[f. cope v.3: cf. cheap n.]
† 1. A bargain. good cope: cf. good cheap, F. bon marché. Obs.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 77 The Ducheman saieth, that segging is good cope. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon Wks. (Rtldg.) 157/1 Maids, when they come to see the fair, Count not to make a cope for dearth of hay. |
† 2. God's cope: a proverbial expression for a very large sum. Obs. [App. belongs here.]
| 1520 Whitinton Vulg. (1527) 13 He wolde spende goddes cope [Tantaleas opes] yf he had it. 1532 Dice Play (Percy Soc.) 27 He that will not stoop a dodkin at the dice, per chaunce at cardes will spend God's cope. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 72 He will spende Goddes coope if he had it. |
3. Derbyshire Mines. A duty paid by the miner for permission to raise lead-ore. [See quot. 1747, and cope v.3 4.]
| 1631 Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 91 The said M{supr} Carrier..had likewise taken a farme or lease of the tythe oare, called the lott and cope, from his Majestie, under the seale of the Dutchy of Lancaster. a 1661 Fuller Worthies i. 229 The Lord for Lot, hath the thirteenth dish of Oar, within their Mine, and six pence a load for Cope. 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. F j, Any Miner is said to have a Groove [= digging, mine] or Cope, when he takes the said Groove or Bargain to get or raise the Ore, at a certain Price per Load, for some certain time. 1815 Farey View Agric. Derbyshire I. 365 In the measuring of [Lead] Ore at present, every 25th Dish..is taken..as the King's Lot, Cope, or Duty. 1851 Act 14 & 15 Vict. c. 94. §9 (High Peak Customs Act) The Lessee for the Time being of the Duties of Lot and Cope. |
4. Comb., as cope-money.
| 1815 Farey View Agric. Derbyshire I. 366 It is not customary for the owners to advance any of the Cope-money on account. |
▪ IV. † cope, cop, n.4 Obs.
[Derivation and proper form unknown.]
(See quots.)
In quot. 1577 cops is app. the plural of this word; but this is uncertain, as it translates a Latin singular temonem.
| 1577 Holinshed Chron. I. 26/2 They [Britons] would run up and downe verie nimblie upon the Cops, and stand upon the beame [Cæsar per temonem percurrere et in iugo instare], and convey themselves quickly again into the charet. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. viii. 335 The Waine Cop, is the long peece that cometh out from the Cart body to which the Oxen are fastned. 1704 Worlidge Dict. Rust. s.v. Cart, 2. The Wain Cope, that part which the hinder Oxen are yoaked unto to draw the Wain..16. The Cope Sale and Pin, are Irons that fasten the Chain with other Oxen thereat, to the end of the Cope. [Hence 1727 in Bradley Fam. Dict., 1730–6 Bailey fol., 1823 Univ. Techn. Dict., etc., etc., s.v. Cope-sale.] 1847 Halliwell, Cop, the beam that is placed between a pair of drawing oxen. [No source or locality given.] |
▪ V. cope, v.1
(kəʊp)
[f. cope n.1, in various unconnected senses.]
1. trans. To furnish with or dress in a cope. † to cope it: to put on a cope (obs.).
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 36 Þenne com þer a Confessour i-copet as a Frere. Ibid. 138 For heo copeþ þe Comissarie and coteþ þe Clerkes. 1575 Brieff Disc. Troubl. Franckford (1642) 167 Such as are turne-coates, and can change with all Seasons..can cap it, can cope it, and curry for advantage. [See also coped.] |
2. Arch. To cover (a wall, etc.) with a coping.
| 1665 in 10th Rep. Comm. Hist. MSS. v. App. 4 That upper part of the said wall which hath bine since made and coped by other men at day-work. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Wall, Brick-Walls..are sometimes coped with Stone, and sometimes with Brick. 1788 Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts VI. 5 Stone fences, of a proper height coped with two turfs. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxi. (1856) 162 The mounds..were..coped and defended with limestone slabs. 1884 Law Times Rep. LI. 230/2 That A.B. do back and cope a hundred rods of their wall by Christmas next. |
| fig. a 1625 Boys Wks. (1630) 843 For though he may..blinde the Bishop and cope [? hoodwink] the Commissarie, yet Gods all-seeing eye..findeth out his foule follie. |
b. To cover a ridge or ‘hip’ on a roof with a metal or other coping to carry off rain, etc.
| 1792 Phil. Trans. LXX. 358 There are eight hips, all of which are covered or coped with lead. |
c. transf. and fig. To cover as, or as with, a coping; to form a coping to.
| 1842 Blackw. Mag. LII. 402 Behold, where olive-thickets cope The soft and emerald-tinted slope Of sacred Scilus. 1879 Butcher & Lang Odyssey 222 With stones dragged thither had he builded it and coped it with a fence of white thorn. 1890 H. M. Stanley Darkest Africa II. xxx. 292 Tufted clumps of trees..coping some turret-like crag. |
3. To cover as with a vault or canopy.
| 1704 Addison Italy 485 A very large Bridge, that is all made of Wood, and coped over Head, like the rest in Switzerland. 1821 J. Baillie Met. Leg., Colum xii, Midnight coped the ocean wide. 1856 T. Aird Poet Wks. 240 The sympathetic heavens Coping this isle of mischief. |
4. Gardening. To protect (wall-fruit) by an overhanging coping, or sloping shelf-like projection.
| 1882 The Garden 11 Feb. 105/3 Apricots..may be coped and poled. Ibid. 18 Mar. 187/1 Well coped, but otherwise exposed trees. |
5. intr. To slope downwards or hang over like a coping.
| 1601 Holland Pliny xxv. xiii. (R.), Some bending downe and coping toward the earth, others standing upright. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 159 Coping over, is a sort of hanging over, but not square to its upright. 1876 Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. s.v. Coping, The sofite of a projection is said to cope over when it slants downwards from the wall. |
▪ VI. cope, v.2
(kəʊp)
Forms: 4–6 coup(e, 5 (Destr. Troy) caup, cawp, 6–7 coap(e, 5– cope.
[a. F. couper, in OF. colper, coper, couper to strike (now to cut), f. OF. colp, cop, coup blow:—med.L. colpus, colapus:—L. colaphus blow with the fist: see coup.]
I. intr. (without with).
† 1. To strike; to come to blows, encounter, join battle, engage, meet in the shock of battle or tournament. (Often with together.) Obs.
| c 1350 [see coping vbl. n.1]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7231 [Thay] coupid to-gedur. Ibid. 6486 Thay caupit at the knight, kene men of armys. Ibid. 7775 Þai caupit togedur That bothe were backward þere borne of þere horses. a 1471 Chron. Rich. II, etc. (Camden 1856) 8 The erl of Penbroke was slayn with that other knyghtis speer, as he cast it from him whanne thay hadde coupid. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. (1868) 18 And coped togyder so fyersly they breke theyr speres. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 261 Both the hostis wolde fayne haue..copt together [properabat comittere]. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clxviii. [clxiv.] 468 The thyrde course their horses refused and wolde nat cope. 1598 Greneway Tacitus' Ann. ii. iii. (1622) 36 They had coped, if Stertinius had not runne in, and held backe Flauius. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. viii. vii. (1632) 424 Foot to foot, and man to man, coped together in a most cruell fight. 1725 Pope Odyss. xviii. 65 Swear to stand neutral, while we cope in fight. |
| fig. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 616/1 Euerye chylde may see howe lothe he is to come nere and cope. 1755 Garrick On Johnson's Dict. in Boswell an. 1755 In satires, epistles, and odes would they cope. |
II. cope with.
† 2. To come to blows with, engage, encounter, contend, fight with. Obs. or arch. (exc. as in 3).
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1262 One caupet with hym kenely..And set hym a sad dynt. a 1467 Gregory Chron. (1876) 219 He wolde nevyr cope whithe no man. 1548 Hall Chron. 175 b, He neither would nor durst once medle or coupe with the Erles navie. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. xiii. vi. (1622) 186 One Iulius Montanus..by chance coping with the Prince in the darke, and rudely thrusting him backe. 1640 Yorke Union Hon. 45 Hee also unhorsed..a Valiant Knight, and at last coped with Earle Henry himselfe. 1660 E. Hickeringill Jamaica (1661) 42 The Spaniards never durst cope with our men in the plain field. 1774 J. Bryant Mythol. II. 47 He slew every person who ventured to cope with him. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 15 Woe to the wretch whose single might Copes with dark Allan in the fight! |
3. To contend with in a well-matched fight, to contest the field with, to be or prove oneself a match for. (Usually with can, able to, or the like.) a. in a lit. contest or battle.
| 1583 Stanyhurst Aeneis i. (Arb.) 33 A lucklesse stripling, not a matche too coape with Achilles. 1710 Addison Whig Exam. No. 3 ¶4 They have not been able to cope with the troops of Athens. 1777 J. Sullivan in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) II. 63 If your Excellency thinks your force sufficient to Cope with his. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. x. 501 It would be impossible to gather an army able to cope with the insurgents. |
b. in a fig. contest.
| 1651 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xxvi. (1739) 117 None must cope with him, he must run and out-run all. 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. x. 347 The onely [remedy]..able to cope with so stout an Enemy. 1711 C. Davenant Acc. Trade Gt. Brit. 67 To be in a lasting Condition to Cope with the Dutch in Trade. 1782 F. Burney Diary Nov., His being too unwell to cope with Dr. Johnson. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. ii. xxxiv, Brisk Confidence still best with woman copes. 1875 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Greatness Wks. (Bohn) III. 270 Let the scholar measure his valour by his power to cope with intellectual giants. |
4. a. fig. To contend with, face, encounter (dangers, difficulties, etc.). Often implying successful encounter.
| 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. iii, Two heads of evil he has to cope with, ignorance and malice. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 327 The difficulties and hazards we had to cope with. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 16 He was..little qualified to cope with the hardships of a new manufacturing enterprise. 1850 Prescott Peru II. 83 His nature was too gentle to cope with the bold and fiercer temper of his brother. 1850 Robertson Serm. iii. i. (1872) 8 The work of coping with evil. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. v. 293 Unfit to cope with the problems. |
b. absol. To manage, deal (competently) with, a situation or problem. colloq. (Cf. manage v. 11 b.)
| 1934 E. Bowen Cat Jumps 248 Angela rang the bell wildly for someone to come and cope. 1955 Essays in Criticism V. 62 More confidence might be placed in the writer did we not find on the same page a typical shift of tone to this, on Romeo and Juliet: ‘the kids get involved in a lively way, but then they cannot cope.’ 1958 I. Brown Words in our Time 41 ‘She suffers from copelessness.’ I have heard this said of an unsatisfactory employee. The use of cope as a verb by itself to describe dealing with all kinds of situations is a recent usage. In my youth we tried, or were told to try, to cope with this or that problem. We were not required to cope in general. |
† 5. To meet with; to come into contact, touch, or relation with; to have to do with. Obs. or arch.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 99 But she, that never coped with stranger eyes, Could pick no meaning from their parling looks. 1602 ― Ham. iii. ii. 60 As iust a man As ere my Conuersation coap'd withall. 1611 ― Wint. T. iv. iv. 435 Thou, fresh peece Of excellent Witchcraft, who of force must know The royall Foole thou coap'st with. 1640 Brome Sparagus Gard. ii. v, His malice works upon me, Past all the drugs and all the Doctors Counsells, That ere I cop'd with. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 84 If we our selves were not body as well as soul, our understandings would never have coped with such a thing as placeness or stowage at all. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. iii. (1869) 75 A heartier friend or honester critic I never coped withal. 1865 Swinburne Poems & Ball., At Eleusis 101 How as mate He coped with Hades, yokefellow in sin. |
III. trans.
† 6. to cope blows: see quot. Obs.
| 1569 J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 125 b, This Arte [War]..dothe trimly teache to cope blowes, to auoyde them that be geuen, or to warde them with the buckler. |
† 7. To meet, meet with, come into contact (hostile or friendly) with. Obs.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 888 Finding their enemie to be so curst, They all straine curt'sie who shall cope him first. 1600 ― A.Y.L. ii. i. 67. 1604 ― Oth. iv. i. 87 Where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when He hath, and is againe to cope your wife. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 34 They say he yesterday cop'd Hector in the battell and stroke him downe. 1603 Florio Montaigne (1632) 489 His [Cupid's] power checketh and copes all other might. |
† 8. To meet or match (a thing) with (an equivalent). Obs. rare. Cf. recoup.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 412 Most worthy gentleman..Three thousand Ducats due vnto the Iew We freely cope your curteous paines withall. |
9. To be a match for, face, encounter (cf. 4). rare.
| 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 1144 Saving that you mistrusted our good King Would..yield you, asking, one Not fit to cope your quest. |
▪ VII. cope, v.3 Obs. exc. dial.
(kəʊp)
Forms: 5–6 copen, 6–9 cope, 7 dial. coop.
[Of. LG. origin; used by Lydgate as Flemish: cf. MDu. côpen, Du. koopen, LG. kôpen to buy, to traffic, buy and sell, exchange, barter; for the ulterior etymology, see cheap v., which is the native Eng. form. Cf. also coup v. from Norse kaupa, the senses of which run parallel to those of cope, so that it is often treated as merely a northern dialect form of this verb.]
† 1. trans. To buy. Obs.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems, London Lyckpeny vii, Flemynges began on me for to cry, ‘Master, what will you copen or by?’ 1570 Levins Manip. 170/1 To cope, cambire, emere. 1599 (title) Key to vnknowne knowledge, or a shop of fiue Windowes, Which if you doe open To cheapen and copen. |
2. To exchange, barter. cope away: to give away in exchange, to barter away. dial.
| 1570 [see 1]. 1584 R. W. Three Ladies Lond. in Hazl. Dodsley VI. 331 Have you any olde bootes Or any olde shoone..To cope with new broome? 1638 Heywood Wise Woman iii. Wks. 1874 V. 314 If a man might change away his Wife..and cope her away like a bad commoditie. 1674 Ray S. & E.C. Words 62 Cope, to chop or exchange, used by the Coasters of Norfol. Suffol. &c. [ed. 1691 as also in Yorkshire]. 1887 E. J. Mather Nor'ard of Dogger iii. 37 I've seen scores of nets coped away for brandy. |
† 3. intr. To make an exchange, make a bargain.
| 1575 Fulke Conf. Purg. (1577) 371 You say we might..haue coped for one of those Lyturgies, if we liked not Gregories Masse, rather then to haue forged a new. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 527 [The Patron] Will cope with thee in reasonable wise; That if the living yerely doo arise To fortie pound, that then his yongest sonne Shall twentie have, and twentie thou hast wonne. 1614 T. Gentleman Eng. Way to Wealth in Arb. Garner IV. 345 And bringeth them Gold and fresh supplies, and copeth with them. |
4. Derbyshire Mines. ‘To agree to get ore at a fixed sum per dish or measure.’
| 1802 J. Mawe Min. Derbysh. Gloss. |
▪ VIII. cope, v.4 Falconry.
(kəʊp)
[app. a. F. coper, couper in its later sense ‘to cut’. Cf. cope v.2]
trans. To cut, pare, the beak or talons of a hawk.
| 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 78 Coping yrons to cope his hawkes beake if it be overgrowen, and to cope hir pownces and talons, if neede be. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. viii. viii. (1668) 130 If you break or rive her pounce, or but coape it so short that she bleed..yet it will indanger her life. 1619 E. Bert Treat. Hawkes 67 Let her be short-coped, so I would advise all short-winged hawkes to be used. 1674 N. Cox Gent. Recreat. ii. (1706) 77. 1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports 244 The beak and talons should be closely coped. |
▪ IX. cope, v.5 Obs. or dial.
Also 7 coap, coupe.
[Derivation uncertain; sometimes referred to coop v.1]
trans. To tie or sew up the mouth of (a ferret); also fig. of a person. Const. up.
| 1601 Deacon & Walker Spirits & Divels 214 It shall not be amisse to cope vp your lips a little. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 9 Neither are they here coped from all manner of speach, when iust occasion of speach is offred. 1625 Gonsalvio's Sp. Inquis. 105 By this their so strait enjoy[n]ing them silence..they cope them with needle and threed and so keep in all their knauary and tyranny. 1631 Dekker Match mee iv. Wks. 1873. IV. 193 Your lips coap'd like a ferret. 1631 R. Brathwait Whimzies 99 His nimble ferrets must now become pioners for their master who coupes them. 1672 Eachard Hobbs' State Nat. 86 Roger has a vocal organ..called a mouth, and being not muzled, gagg'd, or cop'd..may stretch it as wide as he pleases. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Cope. The use of this word is confined to warreners, who are said to ‘cope’ their ferrets, when they sew or tie up their mouths, to prevent them from biting rabbits, when they..drive them from their holes. |
▪ X. † cope, v.6 Obs.
[cf. cop v.2: but perh. an error for wipe; the Fr. original has assuyer les larmes.]
trans.
| 1647 W. Browne Polexander i. 166 The Old Narcissus..lifted his hands to his eies to cope thence his teares. |