A reddish-brown metal that conducts heat and electricity very well, used in wires, pipes, and coins. It can also refer to a coin made mostly from this metal.
From Old English *coper*, from Latin *cuprum*, short for *aes Cyprium* 'metal of Cyprus', where it was mined in ancient times. The name remembers its geographic origin.
Copper is one of the first metals humans ever worked with, long before steel or aluminum. Its name literally means 'the metal from Cyprus,' showing how geography can get frozen into words. Its excellent conductivity quietly powers almost every electrical system around you.
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