Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

 About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ
Oct 30, 2008
This week's theme
Contranyms, or words with an opposite set of meanings.

This week's words
cleave
continuance
asperse
copemate
quiddity
Discuss
Feedback
RSS/XML
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

copemate, also copesmate

PRONUNCIATION:
(KOP-mayt)

MEANING:
noun:
1. An associate or friend.
2. An opponent or adversary.

ETYMOLOGY:
From French couper (to cut), from Latin colpus (blow), from Greek kolaphos (blow with the fist) + mate (fellow).

USAGE:
"I let go of [the gown's] gaping back long enough to turn around, grin and give a big OK sign to Ms. Harper's Bazaar, our copemate, our friend."
Dorothy Fredericks; Breezy is Fashionable; The Seattle Times; Aug 25, 1991.

"Weigh gentlemen, and consider, whether my affirmations, back'd with reason, may hold balance against the bare denials of ... my copesmate."
John Milton; Colasterion; 1645.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Of all plagues with which mankind is cursed, ecclesiastic tyranny's the worst. -Daniel Defoe, novelist and journalist (1659?-1731)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2025 Wordsmith