Copeman

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, borne by people who share this surname across generations
2. A surname of English origin carried by individuals and families in various parts of the world
3. An English family name, used as a surname for people with this particular heritage and lineage

Etymology: "Copeman" is an English word for a merchant or dealer, a sense that now survives mainly in historical and regional use. It was borrowed from Dutch "koopman", literally "buy-man", a compound of "koopen", the Dutch verb meaning "to buy", and "man". The Dutch word itself is a straightforward formation of this kind, so the English term passed across the North Sea largely intact, carrying its trading sense with it. English already had a related word in "cope", a verb meaning to buy or trade, which comes from the same Germanic root as the Dutch "koopen". The two terms therefore reinforce one another: "cope" supplies the verb of buying, and "copeman" supplies the person who does it. The pairing is a neat reminder that much of the vocabulary of commerce in English shares its roots with the Low Countries' trading languages.