Etymologically
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rooftop

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 07:18. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɹuːfˌtɒp/[1]
  • US: /ˈɹufˌtɑp/, /ˈɹʊfˌtɑp/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English roof + top.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The outer surface of a roof, or its top: 1564, in Arthur Golding's translation of Justinus's Histories of Trogus Pompeius.[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to the 1610s[3] and Dictionary.com to 1605–15.[4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to the sum of its parts.[2][3] In the 20th century the noun began to be used before other nouns: of things situated on the roof of a building from 1902,[2] and of things happening there from 1935.[2][3] The phrase shout from the rooftops means to announce something publicly.[6]

Timeline

  • 1564 – the top or outer surface of a roof.[2][5]
  • 1902 – adjective, situated on a roof.[2]
  • 1935 – adjective, taking place on a roof.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The outside of a roof, especially of a house: Snow lay thick on the rooftops of the village.[6][5][2]
  2. shout from the rooftops: to make something widely known.[6]

Adjective

  1. Situated or happening on the roof of a building: a rooftop garden.[2][3]
  • hilltop
  • housetop
  • mountaintop
  • treetop
  • roof
  • top

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins