τοπικός

Forms

τοπῐκός (topikós) m (feminine τοπῐκή, neuter τοπῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos, “place”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2] Beekes notes that the noun may go back to Indo-European *top-o-, but finds it hard to etymologize because of its broad range of meanings.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aristotle is the first to use it: of matter that allows change of place, and of the method of drawing arguments from commonplaces (τόποι), the subject of his treatise Topics.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Later it meant simply “local”: local tribes in Dionysius of Halicarnassus, local winds and local influence in papyri.^[4] Grammarians called an adverb of place a τοπικὸν ἐπίρρημα, and doctors used the word for remedies and ailments affecting one part of the body, “topical” in the medical sense.^[4]

Through Latin Topica, the title of Aristotle's work gave English topic, first used of a class of considerations from which arguments can be drawn and later of a subject of discussion.^[6] Modern Greek τοπικός (topikós) is a learned word meaning “local”, with senses modelled on French local and topique.^[7]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of matter moving in space and of arguments drawn from commonplaces.^[4][2][8]
• 2nd–1st century BC – Dionysius Thrax uses it of adverbs of place.^[4][5][8]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus speaks of local tribes.^[4][8]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Soranus applies it to local remedies and ailments.^[4][8]
• 1560s – English takes Topics as the name of Aristotle's work, and the singular topic follows in the 1630s.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to place; moving in space.^[4][2]
2. Local; of local make or origin.^[4]
3. (medicine) Applied to or affecting one part of the body, topical.^[4]
4. (grammar) Of place: τοπικὸν ἐπίρρημα, an adverb of place.^[4]
5. (logic, rhetoric) Concerning commonplaces (τόποι); τὰ τοπικά, the Topics of Aristotle.^[4][2]

Related words

• Latin topicus
• English topic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge