Topic

How to spell topic

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce topic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does topic mean?

1. nounA subject or matter that is discussed, written about, or studied.

Topic in a sentence

• The meeting moved on to the next topic on the agenda.

• She chose climate change as the topic for her dissertation.

Where does topic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes ultimately from the Greek topos, meaning 'place' or 'location'. The Greek philosopher Aristotle used the plural Topika as the title for a treatise on the standard 'places' or general lines of argument that a speaker could draw on, a kind of mental storehouse of subjects ready for debate. This passed into Latin as topica and then into late medieval and Renaissance learning, and English picked it up in the 1500s, at first meaning the headings or commonplaces of an argument. From those general 'places' of discussion the sense narrowed to any single subject one talks or writes about. The same Greek topos still surfaces in the words 'topical' and 'topography', the latter literally describing the writing down of places.

How the word is built

• top- (from Greek topos: place)
• -ic (adjective/noun suffix)