kopje

English

Alternative forms

• koppie

Etymology

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

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.

   • 1952, Doris Lessing, Martha Quest, Panther 1974, p. 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 2000, p. 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)

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Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kopje (plural kopjes)

1. (archaic) Alternative form of koppie

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔp.jə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

kopje n (plural kopjes)

1. (deprecated template usage) Diminutive of kop

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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

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Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *kopьje.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kòːpjɛ/

Noun

kọ́pje n

1. javelin

Inflection

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), 2014–2024