atop

See also: at op

English

Etymology

From a- (“on”) +‎ top.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈtɒp/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒp

Preposition

atop

1. On the top of.

   He sat atop the mountain, waiting for the end of the world.

   • 1960 November, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 684:

     For example, when trailers containing new automobiles were first piggybacked two areas of potential damage became evident: (1) diesel locomotive exhaust left a film of oil on the new autos; and (2) auto windshields could be scarred or cracked by the metal-tipped "tell-tales" which warn men atop trains of oncoming bridges or tunnels.

   • 1966, The Minnesota Review, volume 6, page 242:

     A virtue is made out of a necessity, with the child feeling far more atop and master of his oddness, his behavior now deliberate or even clever.

   • 2006, Dewey Lambdin, The Gun Ketch, page 48:

     "And other things," she echoed, nodding slowly and resting her body a little more atop him again.

   • 2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)[1]

     “Monotheism was born here,” Goren tells me atop a cliff overlooking the sheet of iron-colored water.

   • 2025 April 24, Anna Silman, “Now comes the ‘womanosphere’: the anti-feminist media telling women to be thin, fertile and Republican”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 April 2025:

     The leading voices of the womanosphere are using a similar strategy. As Brittany Hugoboom put it in an op–ed for the rightwing outlet Quillette: “Conservatives will never win if they imagine themselves as combatants atop defensive battlements, hurling abuse on the mass media. We need to involve ourselves in the creation of pop culture.”

   • 2026 February 9, Jon Caramanica, “Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Review: A History Lesson Full of Puerto Rican Pride”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 February 2026:

     The Super Bowl rendition began with workers falling from utility poles in a flash of sparks, a nod to the blackouts that crippled the U.S. territory for several months following Hurricane Maria in 2017. […] In one segment, Bad Bunny performed “El Apagón” atop a replica utility pole.

2. (dated) On the top (with of).

   He sat atop of the mountain, waiting for the end of the world.

Synonyms

• on top
• ontop (mainly US)

Derived terms

• thereatop

Translations

on the top of

Arabic: فَوْق (ar) (fawq) Egyptian Arabic: فوق (fooʔ) Armenian: please add this translation if you can Catalan: a la cima Chinese: Mandarin: 在……頂上 / 在……顶上 (zài... dǐng shàng) Dutch: bovenop (nl) Esperanto: sur (eo) Finnish: päällä (fi); huipulla (fi) French: au-dessus de (fr), en haut de (fr) German: obenauf (de), zuoberst (de), obendrauf (coll.) Guarani: Mbya Guarani: áry Paraguayan Guarani: (please verify) ári Hindi: के ऊपर (ke ūpar) Hungarian: tetején (hu) Irish: ar bharr Italian: in cima, in cima a, sopra (it), sur (it), su (it) Japanese: please add this translation if you can Khmer: លើ (km) (ləə) Korean: please add this translation if you can Ladino: enriva de Latin: supra (la) Navajo: bikáaʼgi Polish: na (pl) Portuguese: sobre (pt) Quechua: pata Russian: наверху (ru) (naverxu) Scots: atap Slovak: navrchu, navrch Spanish: encima de Swedish: på toppen av Thai: ข้างบน (kâang-bon)

Adverb

atop (not comparable)

1. (literary or archaic) On, to, or at the top.
   • 1909, William Dean Howells, Seven English Cities, Kessinger Publishing, published 2004, page 46:

     He has a handsome face, still bearded in the midst of a mostly clean-shaving nation, and with the white hairs prevalent on the cheeks and temples; his head is bald atop, though hardly from the uneasiness of wearing a crown.

   • 1978, James C. Humes, Speaker's Treasury of Anecdotes About the Famous, Harper & Row, published 1978, page 102:

     The envoy found the French king playing the part of horse while his young son rode atop.

   • 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 52:

     Everything large or small is carried atop out of habit as much as necessity, like a delightful but defiant challenge to the laws of gravity.

   • 2022, Sean Thor Conroe, Fuccboi‎^[4], Hachette, →ISBN:

     Probably cuddled up, spooning. Netflix auto-playing atop their shared covers.

Translations

on, to or at the top

Chinese: Mandarin: 在……頂上 / 在……顶上 (zài... dǐng shàng) Finnish: päällä (fi) (on or at), päälle (fi) (to) French: en haut de (fr) Hungarian: fent (hu), felül (hu) Polish: na wierzchu Slovak: navrchu, navrch

Anagrams

• POTA, pato

Aklanon

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaˈtop/ [ʔaˈt̪op]
• Rhymes: -op
• Syllabification: a‧top

Noun

atóp

1. roof; thatch

Alangan

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

Noun

atop

1. roof; thatch

Cebuano

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: a‧top
• IPA^(key): /ʔaˈtop/ [ʔɐˈt̪op]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

atóp (Badlit spelling ᜀᜆᜓᜉ᜔)

1. roof (cover at the top of a building)
2. roofing (material used on the outside of a roof)
3. rooftop
4. paper covering for a kite

Verb

atóp (Badlit spelling ᜀᜆᜓᜉ᜔)

1. to put a roof; to cover or furnish with a roof
2. to cover a kite with paper covering

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:atop.

Anagrams

• otap, pato, tapo, taop

Central Bikol

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaˈtop/ [ʔaˈtop]
• Hyphenation: a‧top

Noun

atóp (Basahan spelling ᜀᜆᜓᜉ᜔)

1. roof; thatch

   Synonyms: bubong, bubongan

Derived terms

• atopan
• mag-atop

Higaonon

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

Noun

atop

1. roof

Hiligaynon

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: a‧top
• IPA^(key): /ʔaˈtop/ [ʔaˈtop]

Noun

atóp

1. roof

   Synonym: bubongan

Derived terms

• atopan
• mag-atop

Ponosakan

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Cognate with Mongondow atop, Tausug atup, Tagalog atip, Indonesian atap.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔaˈtop/, [ʔaˈtɔp]
• Hyphenation: a‧top

Noun

atop

1. roof

Southern Catanduanes Bikol

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

Noun

atóp

1. roof; thatch