kopje

English

Alternative forms

• koppie

Etymology

From (South African) Dutch kopje, diminutive of kop (“head”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəʊpi/
• IPA^(key): /kɒpi/
  • Homophone: copy

Noun

kopje (plural kopjes)

1. (South Africa) A small hill or mound, especially on the African veld.
   • 1883 June, Ralph Iron [pseudonym; Olive Schreiner], “Shadows from Child-life. The Watch.”, in The Story of an African Farm, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: H. M. Caldwell Company, →OCLC, part I, page 9:

     In one spot only was the solemn monotony of the plain broken. Near the center a small solitary “kopje” rose. Alone it lay there, a heap of round ironstones piled one upon the other, as over some giant’s grave.

   • 1900 December – 1901 August, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Prospecting Begins”, in The First Men in the Moon, London: George Newnes, […], published 1901, →OCLC, page 105:

     We selected a lichenous kopje perhaps fifteen yards away, and landed neatly on its summit one after the other.

   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 206:

     It was nearly noon when he reached the great bowlder at the top of which terminated the secret passage to the pits beneath the city. Like a cat he scaled the precipitous sides of the frowning granite kopje.

   • 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther, published 1974, page 8:

     Martha looked over a mile or so of bush to a strip of pink ploughed land; […] and then, ridge after ridge, fold after fold, the bush stretched to a line of blue kopjes.

   • 1978, André Brink, Rumours of Rain, Vintage, published 2000, page 72:

     On the koppie behind the village, the unsightly red-and-white skeleton of an FM tower.

References

• Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition (1997)

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kopje (plural kopjes)

1. (archaic) alternative form of koppie

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.pjə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kopje n (plural kopjes)

1. diminutive of kop

Noun

kopje n (plural kopjes)

1. (of cats) an act of rubbing one's face on someone or something to spread pheromones

Lower Sorbian

Alternative forms

• koṕe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *kopьje. Cognate with Upper Sorbian kopjo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔpʲɛ/, [ˈkɔpʲə]

Noun

kopje n (diminutive kopjecko)

1. spear, javelin, lance, pike

Inflection

Declension of kopje

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	kopje	kopi	kopja
Genitive	kopja	kopjowu	kopjow
Dative	kopjeju, kopju	kopjoma	kopjam
Accusative	kopje	kopi	kopja
Instrumental	kopim	kopjoma	kopjami
Locative	kopju	kopjoma	kopjach

Further reading

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928), “koṕe”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999), “kopje”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *kopьje.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kòːpjɛ/

Noun

kọ́pje n

1. javelin

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Neuter, soft
nom. sing.	kópje
gen. sing.	kópja
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	kópje	kópji	kópja
genitive (rodȋlnik)	kópja	kópij	kópij
dative (dajȃlnik)	kópju	kópjema	kópjem
accusative (tožȋlnik)	kópje	kópji	kópja
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	kópju	kópjih	kópjih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	kópjem	kópjema	kópji

Further reading

• “kopje”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025