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topic

- 3 dictionary results

–noun

a subject of conversation or discussion: to provide a topic for discussion.

the subject or theme of a discourse or of one of its parts.

Rhetoric, Logic. a general field of considerations from which arguments can be drawn.

Also called theme. Linguistics. the part of a sentence that announces the item about which the rest of the sentence communicates information, often signaled by initial position in the sentence or by a grammatical marker.Compare comment (def. 6).

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Origin:
1560–70; < L topica (pl.) < Gk (tà) topiká name of work by Aristotle (lit., (things) pertaining to commonplaces), equiv. to tóp(os) commonplace + -ika, neut. pl. of -ikos -ic; see topo-

—Synonyms
2. thesis, subject matter. See subject.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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Link To topic

World English Dictionary

topic (ˈtɒpɪk)

—n
1.	a subject or theme of a speech, essay, book, etc
2.	a subject of conversation; item of discussion
3.	(in rhetoric, logic, etc) a category or class of arguments or ideas which may be drawn on to furnish proofs

[C16: from Latin topica translating Greek ta topika, literally: matters relating to commonplaces, title of a treatise by Aristotle, from topoi, pl of topos place, commonplace]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Word Origin & History

topic

1634, "argument suitable for debate," singular form of "Topics" (1568), the name of a work by Aristotle on logical and rhetorical generalities, from L. Topica, from Gk. Ta Topika, lit. "matters concerning topoi," from topoi "commonplaces," neut. pl. of topikos "commonplace, of a place," from topos "place." The meaning "matter treated in speech or writing, subject, theme" is first recorded 1720. Topical "of or pertaining to topics of the day" is recorded from 1873.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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