Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗Situated on the top of something. · Best; of the highest quality, fame or rank. · Very good, of high quality, power, or rank. · Relating to the chest or breasts.
Best, highest.
To cover on the top or with a top. · To exceed in height. · To excel, to surpass, to beat, to exceed. · To be in the lead, to be at number one position (of).
The signal among tailors and seamstresses for snuffing the candle. The last of them to cry "top" had to snuff the candle.
From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English topp (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin. Compare typologically Latin apex (<< Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, attach, fasten, fit”)). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), Cimbrian sòpf (“braid”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), German Topp (“top of a mast”), Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Luxembourgish Zapp (“plait, tress”), Vilamovian cöp (“braid, plait”), Yiddish צאָפּ (tsop, “braid”), Danish top (“top”), Icelandic toppur (“top”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Italian zuffa (“brawl”). The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentiontopenm
- Inherited-form mentiontoppang · top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything
- Inherited-form mention*toppgmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*tuppazgem-pro · braid, pigtail, end
- Cognate mentionTopstq · top
- Cognate mentionsòpfcim · braid
- Cognate mentiontopnl · top, summit, peak
- Cognate mentionToppde · top of a mast
- Cognate mentionZapplb · plait, tress
- Cognate mentioncöpwym · braid, plait
- Cognate mentionצאָפּyi · braid
- Cognate mentiontopda · top
- Cognate mentiontoppuris · top
- Cognate mentiontoppsv · top, peak, summit, tip
- Cognate mentionzuffait · brawl
- Cognate mentiontopnl
- Cognate mentiontoupiefr
This page abbreviates 15 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
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"name": "inh",
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"1": "en",
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"3": "top"
},
"expansion": "Middle English top"
},
{
"name": "inh",
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"3": "topp",
"t": "top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything"
},
"expansion": "Old English topp (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”)"
},
{
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{
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"2": "*h₂ep-",
"3": "",
"4": "to join, attach, fasten, fit",
"id": "join"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- (“to join, attach, fasten, fit”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "Top",
"t": "top"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian Top (“top”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"t": "braid"
},
"expansion": "Cimbrian sòpf (“braid”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "top",
"t": "top, summit, peak"
},
"expansion": "Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
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"2": "Topp",
"t": "top of a mast"
},
"expansion": "German Topp (“top of a mast”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
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"2": "Zapp",
"t": "plait, tress"
},
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},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "wym",
"2": "cöp",
"t": "braid, plait"
},
"expansion": "Vilamovian cöp (“braid, plait”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "yi",
"2": "צאָפּ",
"t": "braid"
},
"expansion": "Yiddish צאָפּ (tsop, “braid”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "top",
"t": "top"
},
"expansion": "Danish top (“top”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "toppur",
"t": "top"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic toppur (“top”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nb",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nn",
"2": "-"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "topp",
"t": "top, peak, summit, tip"
},
"expansion": "Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "it",
"2": "zuffa",
"t": "brawl"
},
"expansion": "Italian zuffa (“brawl”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "top"
},
"expansion": "Dutch top"
},
{
"name": "m+",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "tol"
},
"expansion": "Dutch tol"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "fr",
"2": "toupie"
},
"expansion": "French toupie"
}
],
"links": [
[
"top",
"top#Middle_English"
],
[
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"toppe#Middle_English"
],
[
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"topp#Old_English"
],
[
"*topp",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/topp"
],
[
"*tuppaz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/tuppaz"
],
[
"apex",
"apex#Latin"
],
[
"*h₂ep-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂ep-#Proto-Indo-European:_join"
],
[
"Top",
"Top#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"sòpf",
"sòpf#Cimbrian"
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[
"top",
"top#Dutch"
],
[
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"Topp#German"
],
[
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"Zopf#German"
],
[
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],
[
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"cöp#Vilamovian"
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[
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[
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],
[
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[
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"topp#Swedish"
],
[
"zuffa",
"zuffa#Italian"
],
[
"top",
"top#Dutch"
],
[
"dop",
"dop#Dutch"
],
[
"tol",
"tol#Dutch"
],
[
"toupie",
"toupie#French"
]
],
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"Situated on the top of something.",
"Best; of the highest quality, fame or rank.",
"Very good, of high quality, power, or rank.",
"Relating to the chest or breasts."
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