Topʹic
. This word has wholly changed its original meaning. It now signifies a subject for talk, a theme for discussion or to be written about; but originally “topics” were what we call commonplace books; the “sentences” of Peter Lombard were theological topics. (Greek, topikos, from topos, a place.)
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Entry taken from
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,
edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.