atop

From a- (“on”) +‎ top.

• IPA^(key): /əˈtɒp/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒp

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)

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

2. On the top, with "of".

"Atop of" was formerly much more commonly used than now.

• on top
• ontop (mainly US)

• thereatop

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.

• POTA, pato

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp.

atop

1. roof; thatch

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp.

atop

1. roof; thatch

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp.

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

atóp (Basahan spelling ᜀᜆᜓᜉ᜔)

1. roof; thatch

   Synonyms: bubong, bubongan

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp.

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

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

atóp (Badlit spelling ᜀᜆᜓᜉ᜔)

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

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

• otap, pato, tapo, taop

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp.

atop

1. roof

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp.

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

atóp

1. roof

   Synonym: bubongan

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp.

atóp

1. roof; thatch