copus

English

Etymology

Perhaps from hippocras.

Noun

copus (plural copuses) (UK, slang, obsolete, Cambridge University)

1. A mug.
   • 1835, Richard Gooch, Oxford and Cambridge Nuts to Crack, page 25:

     PORSON, Whose very name conjures up the spirits of ten thousand wits, holding both sides, over a copus of Trinity ale and a classical pun, would not only frequently “steal a few hours from the night,” but see out both lights and liquids, and seem none the worse for the carouse.

2. A drink of ale mixed with spices, and varied by spirits, wines, etc.
   • 1855, Thomas Gray, William Mason, John Mitford, The Correspondence of Thomas Gray and William Mason, page 352:

     We beg you would not stand fiddling about it, but be married forthwith, and then take chaise, and come […] all the way to Cambridge […] for our copuses and Welsh rabbits are impatient for you.

References

• (spiced drink): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary
• Morris Marples (1950) University Slang

Anagrams

• Cupos, POCUS, coups