Copybook

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A book used by students to practice handwriting or calligraphy through repeated writing exercises
2. A notebook intended for writing out examples of proper penmanship or for completing written assignments by imitation
3. An exercise book designed for learners to improve their script or to replicate text accurately as a study aid

Etymology: "Copybook" is a plain compound of "copy" and "book", and its story lies in what the first half meant. "Copy" comes from Latin "copia", meaning abundance or supply, and it reached English through Old French "copie" with the sense of a transcript or duplicate. The compound describes a book of model texts that pupils copied out line by line to learn penmanship, so the word's meaning is a literal description of its use in the classroom. The phrase "copybook" also gave English a figurative sense: something described as "copybook" is faultlessly correct, neat, or conventional, because a pupil's exercise was judged against the perfect model at the top of the page. Students were expected to reproduce that model exactly, which is why the expression came to mean conventional or exemplary rather than merely old-fashioned.

Synonyms: notebook, binder, journal, ledger, register