topology

Etymology

It is formed from English topo- + -logy,^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos, “place”) and -λογία (-logía, “study of”).^[6][5][7] Merriam-Webster treats it as a word of the International Scientific Vocabulary,^[8] and the Oxford Dictionary of English takes the late 19th-century mathematical word as coming through German.^[7] The OED compares French topologique, in Littré, for the sense of a memory technique.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The branch of botany that deals with the places where plants are found: 1659, in a preface by R. Lovell;^[2][5] the sense is recorded only in the mid-17th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From 1850 it named the study of a particular locality, especially of how its topography reflects its history,^[2][8][3] and in 1860 Worcester's dictionary recorded it for the art of remembering things by linking them with the parts of a well-known place or building.^[2][5] In 1883 it appears as the branch of mathematics that studies the properties of figures and surfaces that are unchanged by deformation, such as stretching or twisting,^[2][5][8] and in anatomy it was used from 1899 for regional anatomy.^[2][8] Later mathematical senses are the topological properties of something (1913) and a family of open subsets that defines a topological space (1946).^[2][9] Since 1967 it has also meant the way the parts of something are arranged and connected, as in a computer network.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 1659 – the botany of plant localities (obsolete).^[2][5]
• 1850 – the study of a particular locality and its history.^[2][8]
• 1860 – a memory technique based on familiar places (obsolete).^[2][5]
• 1883 – a branch of mathematics, in Nature.^[2][5]
• 1899 – regional anatomy.^[2]
• 1913 – the topological properties of something.^[2]
• 1946 – a family of open subsets of a space.^[2]
• 1967 – the arrangement and interconnection of parts.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The branch of mathematics that studies the properties of figures and spaces that stay unchanged under continuous deformation, such as stretching or bending, but not tearing.^[9][8][2]
2. The topological properties of a particular figure or object.^[2][8]
3. (mathematics) A family of open subsets of a set that makes it a topological space.^[9][8][2]
4. The way in which the parts of something are arranged and linked, especially the nodes of a computer network: The office network uses a star topology.^[9][2]
5. The study of the topography of a particular place, especially as it reflects the place's history.^[9][8][2]
6. Regional anatomy.^[8][2]
7. (obsolete, 1659) The branch of botany dealing with the places where plants grow.^[2][3]

Word family

• topologic
• topologically
• topologist
• topological

Related words

• topological space
• topography
• topic
• topos

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins