cope¹ / kōp/ • v. [intr.] (of a person) deal effectively with something difficult: his ability to cope with stress. ∎  (of a machine or system) have the capacity to deal successfully with: the roads are barely adequate to cope with the present traffic.DERIVATIVES: cop·er n.cope² • n. a long, loose cloak worn by a priest or bishop on ceremonial occasions. ∎ technical or poetic/lit. a thing resembling or likened to a cloak: the bay and the square were a seamless cope.• v. [tr.] [usu. as adj.] (coped) (in building) cover (a joint or structure) with a coping.

cope 1 long cloak or cape (esp. eccl.) XIII; ‘canopy’ of night, heaven XIV; outer mould in founding XIX. ME. cāpe, repr. OE. -cāp, *cāpe = ON. kápa — medL. cāpa, var. of cappa (whence F. chape; cf. CAP, CHAPEL).
Hence cope-stone top stone of a building XVI; whence prob. cope vb. cover (a wall) with a head stone XVII; coping uppermost course of masonry or brickwork XVII; see -ING 1.

cope, coping. Top course (capping) of masonry, brick, etc., usually sloping, of a chimney, gable, parapet, or wall, formed of cap-stones, copstones, copestones, or coping-stones to throw off water. Feather-edged coping is thinner on one side than on the other, and saddle-back coping has a triangular section with a ridge.

cope 2 †come to blows (with) XIV; meet or contend with XVI. — OF. coper, var. of colper (mod. couper) strike, (now) cut, f. co(l)p (mod. coup) blow :- Rom. *colpus :- L. colaphus — Gr. kōlaphos.

Cope. Christian vestment.