COOPER or COUPER, THOMAS (c. '5'7-1594), English bishop and writer, was born in Oxford, where he was educated. He became master of Magdalen college school, and afterwards practised as a physician in Oxford. In 1565 appeared the first edition of his greatest work, Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae, followed by three other editions.
Queen Elizabeth was greatly pleased with the Thesaurus, generally known as Cooper's Dictionary; and its author, who had been ordained about 1559, was made dean of Christ Church, Ox ford, in 1567. Two years later he became dean of Gloucester, in 1571 bishop of Lincoln and in 1584 bishop of Winchester. Cooper defended the practice and precept of the Church of England against the Roman Catholics on the one hand and against the Martin Marprelate writings and the Puritans on the other. He died at Winchester April 29 1594.
Cooper's Admonition against Martin Marprelate was reprinted in 1847, and his Answer in Defence of the Truth against the Apology of Private Mass in 185o.