Atop
prepositionOn or at the very top of something.
How to spell atop
4 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce atop
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does atop mean?
- prepositionOn or at the very top of something.
Atop in a sentence
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A weather vane sat atop the old barn.
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She balanced the heavy box atop the wardrobe.
Where does atop come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This word is a compact fusion of the prefix 'a-' and the noun 'top'. The 'a-' here is a worn-down survival of the Old English preposition 'an' or 'on', meaning 'on' or 'in', the same particle that hides inside words like 'aboard', 'ashore', 'asleep' and 'aside'. The noun 'top' descends from Old English 'topp', meaning the highest point or crown of something, a thoroughly Germanic word with relatives across the older northern languages. Joined together, the phrase 'on top' simply collapsed into a single adverb and preposition, and 'atop' is recorded in English from the early 1600s. Because it is built so transparently from 'a' plus 'top', the spelling rarely trips writers up; the only real temptation is to split it back into two words.
How the word is built
- a- (on, from Old English an: in/on)
- top (highest point)
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