COPING, in architecture, a capping or covering for the top of a wall, to prevent the entrance of water. In those countries and times in which parapets are common, coping design becomes of great importance ; especially in Gothic work, where copings are usually of stone with a steeply sloped, and sometimes moulded, profile. Copings may be made of stone, brick, tile, slate, metal, wood or thatch and are usually sloped so as not to hold water, and projected beyond the face of the wall they cover in order to prevent the wall below from becoming saturated.