Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COOP, n. [D. kuip, a tub; kuiper, a cooper; G. kufe; Fr. cuve; L. cupa, from bending, hollowness, or containing, holding. Qu. Gr. κυφος. The Latin cupa seems to be both coop and cup. See Cup.]

1. A box of boards, grated or barred on one side, for keeping fowls in confinement. It is usually applied to long boxes for keeping poultry for fattening or conveyance on board of ships, as cage is used for a small box to keep singing birds in houses. I do not know that it is ever used in America for a pen to confine other animals.
2. A pen; an inclosed place for small animals. – Johnson.
3. A barrel or cask for the preservation of liquors. – Johnson.
4. A tumbrel or close cart. – Encyc. Jamieson's Dict. [The three last senses, not American.]