English

Noun

copy number ‎(plural copy numbers)

1. (genetics) The number of copies of a gene or plasmid within a cell's genome.
   • 1985, John H. Dodds, Plant Genetic Engineering , ISBN 0521259665, page 170:

     "Reconstruction" or "titration" experiments consisting of amounts of the linear cloned cDNA equivalent to various gene copy numbers in the genomic DNA are run on the same gel.

2. (library science) The identification number assigned to a specific copy of a work.
   • 1987, Terry D. Webb, The In-House Option: Professional Issues of Library Automation , ISBN 0866566171, pages 65-66:

     In other words, there was no way to correlate a book's barcode number, by which it was filed in the computer, to its copy number on the shelf list.