topic: [16] Greek tópos meant ‘place’. From it was derived the adjective topikós ‘of a place’, which came to mean ‘commonplace’. Aristotle used it in the title of his treatise Tà topiká, which contains commonplace arguments, and it was with direct reference to this that the word first arrived in English (via Latin topica). The sense ‘subject, theme’ arose in the 18th century from the notion of the various heads of argument contained in Tà topiká and works like it.
The derived topical [16] originally meant ‘of topics’; the specialization to ‘of topics of the day, of current interest’ is as recent as the second half of the 19th century. The word’s original notion of ‘place’ is preserved in topography [15] and topology [17]. The diminutive form of Greek tópos was tópion ‘small place’, hence ‘field’.
Latin took over its plural as topia, and used it for ‘ornamental gardening’. From it was derived the adjective topiārius, which forms the basis of English topiary [16]. => topiary, topography
topic (n.)
1630s, "a class of considerations from which probable arguments can be drawn," singular form of "Topics" (1560s), the name of a work by Aristotle on logical and rhetorical generalities, from Latin Topica, from Greek Ta Topika, literally "matters concerning topoi," "commonplaces," neuter plural of noun use of topikos "pertaining to a common place, of a place, local," from topos "place" (see topos). The meaning "matter treated in speech or writing, subject, theme" is first recorded 1720.
双语例句
1. Radical feminism is currently the fashionable topic among the chattering classes.
激进的女权主义是时下名嘴阶层热议的话题。
来自柯林斯例句
2. No one article can ever do justice to the topic of fraud.
没有哪一篇文章能把欺诈这一话题讲得恰到好处。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The weather is a constant topic of conversation in Britain.
在英国，天气是交谈中永恒的话题。
来自柯林斯例句
4. The topic of addiction remains something of a taboo.
毒瘾仍然是个有些忌讳的话题。
来自柯林斯例句
5. A disproportionate amount of time was devoted to one topic.