top

top · noun, verb, adjective, adverb, interjection¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*tuppaz“braid, pigtail, end”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*topp
3. Old English · inherited fromtopp“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”
4. Middle English · inherited fromtop
5. English todaytop

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.

Top · proper noun²

1. German · borrowed fromTop
2. English todayTop

Borrowed from Dutch and German Top.

Words from the same roots