copy

copy [käp′ē]

n.

pl. copies [ME copie, abundance, full transcript < OFr < ML copia, copious transcript < L copia, plenty: see COPIOUS]

1. a thing made just like another; imitation of an original; full reproduction or transcription

2. Now Rare a model or pattern, as of penmanship, to be imitated or reproduced

3. any of a number of books, magazines, engravings, etc. printed from the same plates or having the same printed matter

4. matter to be set in type or put on a printing plate

5. subject matter for a journalist, novelist, etc. [a trip that made good copy]

6. the words of an advertisement, as distinct from the layout, pictures, music, etc.

vt., vi.

copied, copying

1. to make a copy or copies of (a piece of writing, etc.); reproduce; transcribe

2. to make or do something in imitation of (some thing or person); imitate

3. Informal to provide (someone) with a copy of a specified document, text, etc. [copy all staff members with the annual report]

SYN.- IMITATE, COPY, the broadest of these terms, refers to any imitation, often only approximate, of an original [a carbon copy]; REPRODUCTION implies a close imitation of the original, often, however, with differences, as of material, size, or quality [a reproduction of a painting ]; a FACSIMILE is an exact reproduction in appearance, sometimes, however, differing in scale [a photostated facsimile of a document ]; a DUPLICATE is a double, or counterpart, of something, serving all the purposes of the original [all the books of a single printing are duplicates]; a REPLICA is an exact reproduction of a work of art, in strict usage, one made by the original artist