Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

copyleft

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.79 in modern English

Syllables: copy-left
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The philosophy of using copyrights to enforce freedom of information, especially software source code.

Uncountable

noun

A software license that follows this philosophy.

Uncountable

verb

To license under a copyleft license.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"They believe in copyleft because they want their software to be used freely by anyone."
"I have placed my program under copyleft."
"The GNU General Public License is a copyleft licence."
"Linus Torvalds copylefted the Linux kernel."

Etymology

A pun on copyright, which refers to using copyright laws for purposes that are in some ways contrary to copyright's original intent.

Usage

Inflected Forms

copylefts (plural) copylefts (present, singular) copylefting (participle, present) copylefted (participle, past) copylefted (past)

Derived Forms

copyleftist

Phrases

copyleft symbol strong copyleft weak copyleft

Frequently Paired Words

🄯

Questions

What does copyleft mean?: The philosophy of using copyrights to enforce freedom of information, especially software source code.
Where does copyleft come from?: A pun on copyright, which refers to using copyright laws for purposes that are in some ways contrary to copyright's original intent.

How to pronounce copyleft

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “copyleft”.
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