COP
Abbreviation with 6 meanings
| Stands for | Conference of the Parties |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 6 |
| Categories | Science & Engineering, Business & Finance, Medical, Writing & Everyday, Military |
COP has six meanings. The most common are Conference of the Parties (environmental) and Colombian peso (currency); it can also stand for Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, Coefficient of performance, Close of play and Combat outpost.
Meanings of COP at a glance
| # | COP stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conference of the Parties | Science & Engineering › Environmental |
| 2 | Colombian peso | Business & Finance › Currency |
| 3 | Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia | Medical › Respiratory |
| 4 | Coefficient of performance | Science & Engineering › Engineering |
| 5 | Close of play | Writing & Everyday › Email and Office |
| 6 | Combat outpost | Military › Military Term |
1. Conference of the Parties
Science & Engineering · Environmental Abbreviations · also used in organizations
Supreme decision-making meeting of the countries that have joined a UN convention, best known for the annual climate summits under the UNFCCC. Climate COPs negotiate emission goals, finance and rules, and are numbered by year, from COP1 in Berlin in 1995 onward.
Example: Negotiators at COP28 in Dubai agreed for the first time to "transition away from fossil fuels."
Landmark climate COPs include COP3 in Kyoto (1997), COP21 in Paris (2015), COP26 in Glasgow (2021) and COP30 in Belém, Brazil (2025). Other treaties hold their own COPs: the Convention on Biological Diversity's COP15 adopted the Kunming-Montreal framework to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. Pronounced "cop."
2. Colombian peso
Business & Finance · Currency Abbreviations
Colombia's currency, issued by the Banco de la Republica. Its low unit value means prices run into thousands, and the largest banknote is 100,000 pesos.
Example: A taxi from El Dorado airport into Bogota costs about COP 35,000.
Prices are written with $ and a period as the thousands separator, which can confuse visitors used to US dollar prices. Oil and coffee export earnings strongly influence the exchange rate. Coins from 50 pesos up circulate, while centavos are long obsolete.
3. Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia
Medical · Respiratory Abbreviations
Inflammatory lung disease of unknown cause in which plugs of granulation tissue fill the small airways and air sacs, producing a flu-like illness, cough and breathlessness with patchy consolidations that may wander on serial imaging. It often mimics a pneumonia that fails to respond to antibiotics.
Example: Three courses of antibiotics without improvement, migratory consolidations on CT, biopsy shows organizing pneumonia: COP.
"Cryptogenic" means no cause is found; secondary organizing pneumonia occurs with infections, connective tissue diseases, drugs and radiation. Most patients respond quickly to corticosteroids, but relapses are common when doses are tapered. The disease was formerly called bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP), a name abandoned partly to avoid confusion with bronchiolitis obliterans, an unrelated airway disease.
4. Coefficient of performance
Science & Engineering · Engineering Abbreviations
Ratio of useful heating or cooling delivered by a heat pump, air conditioner or refrigerator to the electrical energy it consumes. A heat pump with a COP of 3 delivers three units of heat for every unit of electricity, equivalent to 300% efficiency.
Example: At 5 °C outdoors the heat pump's COP is about 3.5, falling to 2 at -15 °C.
COP can exceed 1 because heat pumps move heat rather than generate it. It falls as the temperature difference between source and destination grows, which is why cold-climate models are tested at low temperatures. In climate diplomacy COP means Conference of the Parties.
5. Close of play
Writing & Everyday · Email and Office Abbreviations
British and Commonwealth office shorthand for the end of the working day, borrowed from cricket, where play stops at a set time each day. It appears mainly in UK emails and deadlines.
Example: Could you send over the slides by COP Thursday so I can review them on Friday morning?
The phrase alludes to the end of a day's play in a cricket match, which may last up to five days. It is the British counterpart of COB and EOD. The initials are less common than the full phrase "by close of play," and readers outside Britain may not recognize them. In climate diplomacy COP means Conference of the Parties, as in COP28.
6. Combat outpost
Military · Military Term Abbreviations
Small fortified position, often for a company or platoon, placed among the population or near the enemy to extend control, smaller and more austere than a forward operating base.
Example: COP Keating was overrun in October 2009 in one of the war's deadliest battles.
Counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan pushed troops out of large bases into COPs to live among civilians. The battle at Combat Outpost Keating killed eight US soldiers and led to two Medal of Honor awards. Pronounced as the word "cop."
Related abbreviations
More environmental abbreviations
- CERCLA – Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
- CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild…
- CO2e – Carbon dioxide equivalent
- COD – Chemical oxygen demand
- CR – Critically Endangered
- CSO – Combined sewer overflow
- DAC – Direct air capture
- DO – Dissolved oxygen
See all 62 environmental abbreviations →
More currency abbreviations
- CHF – Swiss franc
- CLP – Chilean peso
- CNH – Offshore Chinese yuan
- CNY – Chinese yuan (renminbi)
- CUP – Cuban peso
- CZK – Czech koruna
- d. – Denarius (penny)
- DEM – Deutsche Mark
See all 77 currency abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.