Meaning

noun a graceful style of handwriting based on the writing used on copperplate engravings

noun a print made from an engraved copperplate

noun an engraving consisting of a smooth plate of copper that has been etched or engraved

originFrom copper + plate. For the plate used for engraving: in the 1660s. As a term for the printed product: from 1817. Of the especially clear writing used in such prints: from the 1820s. Use as a verb (the past participle copperplated) is from 1822.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0