Top

Part of speech: noun, verb, adjective

Pronunciation: /tÉ’p/

Definitions

  1. The highest point, upper surface, or most important position of something
  2. The uppermost part or surface of an object, the leading position in ranking or importance, and the peak or pinnacle of a concept or achievement
  3. Referring to the highest point of an item, the foremost position within a hierarchy, and the summit of an idea or platform

Etymology: The noun "top" for the highest point is one of those English words whose ancestry runs through braids and hair. Its Middle English form "toppe" seems to have been a sense of the same root that gave German "Zopf" (a plait or pigtail) and Dutch "top" (summit, peak), and Icelandic "toppur" and Swedish "topp" carry the same peak-of-something meaning. The sense that a head of hair or a braid was the "top" of a thing, and a mast's tip was the top of a ship, links the physical tuft to the abstract summit. Its ultimate origin is unknown. Some scholars compare it with the Latin "apex," meaning peak or tip, but that resemblance is only a comparison, not a proven link. The sense of "top" as a spinning toy is a separate word, obscurely related to Dutch "top" in that sense, while French "toupie" has the same toy meaning.

Synonyms: summit, peak, apex, zenith, pinnacle

Antonyms: bottom, base, foundation, lowest, depth