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Anglo-Saxon

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topp

  • noun [ masculine ]
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Grammar
topp, es; m.
Wright's OE grammar
§243;
a top, summit
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  • Helmes top

    apex, summitas galeae,

      Wrt. Voc. i. 36,
a lock of hair, tuft; and fig.
a collection of rays of light (?), as in the tail of a comet
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  • Se bróðor geseah eall ðæt hús mid heofonlícre bryhto geondgoten, and hé ðǽr geseah fýrenne topp (a stream of light (?); cf.

    Cometa

    ... men cweþaþ on Englisc, ðæt hit sié feaxede steorra, for ðæm ðǽr stent lang leóma of, Chr. 891; Erl. 88, 19.

  • But, perhaps, torr should be read, as the Latin has

    turrim;

    and the metrical version of the passage uses that word :-- Heofonlíc leóma from foldan up swylce fýren tor ryht árǽred.
      Exon. Th. 180, 26; Gú. 1285) up of
    ðære eorþan tó heofones heánnysse, Guthl. 20; Gdwin. 88, 11.
a top to play with (?)
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  • Mid gelǽredre handa hé swang ðone top mid micelre swiftnysse

    (

    the passage is obscure, and perhaps the Latin original has been mistranslated. Thorpe, p. 41, note, cites two Latin versions, one of which has 'accepto ceromate, cum docta manu circumlavit ei cum subtilitate'; the other 'accepto cyramoco, docta manu circulavit eum': in each case the rubbing after the bath seems to be meant. But swingan (q.v.) elsewhere seems always used with the sense of striking, and hardly fits in with the meaning of the Latin),

      Ap. Th. 13, 13.
Etymology
[In later English the word seems mostly used of the hair at the top of the head, or of that which has a similarity with it, e.g. the leafy top of a tree Bi þone toppe (coppe, 2nd MS.) he hine nom, Laym. 684. Hongin bi þe toppe (teon bi þe top up,
    Bodl. MS.), Jul. 28, 6: Piers P. 3, 139.
Top ouer tail,
    Will. 2776.
En vostre chef vus avet toup (a top of heer ).
    Wrt. Voc. i. 144, 21 (13th cent.). Ne
rohte he þeȝ flockes were Imeind bi toppes and bi here, O. and N. 428. His heer was by his eres ful round ishorn. His top was docked lyk a priest biforn,
    Chauc. Prol. 590.
Top or fortop, top of the hed aqualium,
    Prompt. Parv. 496.
Up to þe toppe from þe more,
    O. and N. 1422: 1328.
A top of flax du lyn le toup.
    Wrt. Voc. i. 144, 27.
The word is used also of other things Teon seiles to toppa,
    Laym. 1339.
Top or cop of an hey thynge cacumen, top of a maste carchesia,
    Prompt. Parv. 496.
It is found, too, as the name of a plaything En la rue vus juvetz a toup (a top of tre ),
    Wrt. Voc. i. 144, 25.
Top of chylderys pley trochus,
    Prompt. Parv. 496.
Sweype for a top flagellum, 482. O. Frs. top a lock, tuft of hair: Du. top top, summit: O. H. Ger. zopfe; pl. cicinni, anciae: Ger. zopf: Icel. toppr a tuft or lock of hair; a top of a mast: Dan. top a top, summit; a tuft, crest; a top to play with: Swed. topp a top, summit. The word was taken from the Teutonic into the Romance languages.]
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “topp.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/30780.

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Word-wheel

  • topp, n.

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