Where does “spy cop” come from?
spy cop (English) comes from English spy, from English -ing, from Old English -ing, from Old English -tūn, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną, from Gaulish dunum — smoke; mist, haze.
spy cop (English): An undercover police officer tasked with infiltrating a politically active group which is deemed to pose a risk of criminal activity, so as to allow the police to monitor the group's activities on an ongoing basis
Definitions
- An undercover police officer tasked with infiltrating a politically active group which is deemed to pose a risk of criminal activity, so as to allow the police to monitor the group's activities on an ongoing basis
Ancestry of “spy cop”, step by step
spy cop traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English spy
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | spy | A person who secretly watches and examines the... |
| 2 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 3 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 4 | Old English | -tūn | homestead, village, town |
| 5 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 8 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 9 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via English cop
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cop | To capture or arrest someone |
| 2 | Middle English | cop | summit; top, tip, topmost part; top of the head,... |
| 3 | Old English | cop | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *kopp | vessel, container, bowl |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | kuppaz | round object; orb; vessel; container; bowl;... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | gup- | round object, knoll |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | gew- | to bend, curve, arch, buckle; to bend, to curve;... |