See also:

• TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

TOP (cf. See also:

• DAN

Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)  , a See also:

• TOY
• TOY, CRAWFORD HOWELL (1836– )

toy consisting of a See also:

• BODY

body of conical, circular or See also:

• OVAL (Lat. ovum, egg)

oval shape with a point or peg on which it turns or is made to whirl . The twisting or whirling See also:

• MOTION (Lat. motio, from movere, to move)
• MOTION, LAWS OF

motion is applied by See also:

• WHIPPING, or FLOGGING

whipping or lashing when it is a " See also:

• WHIP

whip-ping See also:

• TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top" or " peg-top," or by the rapid unwinding of a See also:

• STRING

string tightly See also:

• WOUND (O. Eng. wund,connected with a Teutonic verb, meaning to strive, fight, suffer, seen in O. Eng. winnan, whence Eng. " win ")

wound See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round a See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head or handle . When the body is hollow this results in a whirring See also:

• NOISE (a word of doubtful origin; O. Fr. nogse or nose; Prov. nausa, which points to Lat. nausea, sickness, as the origin; others take Lat. noxia, harm, as the source)

noise, whence the name " humming top." Other kinds of tops are made as supports for coloured disks which on revolving show a kaleidoscopic variation of patterns . The top is also used in certain See also:

• GAMES, CLASSICAL

games of See also:

• CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance, when it is generally known as a" See also:

• TEETOTUM

teetotum." There are many references to it in See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient classical literature . The See also:

• GREEK
• GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND

Greek terms for the toy are ,QEµ0t , which was evidently the whipping or peg top (Arist . Birds, 1461), and orpo(iiXos, a humming top, spun by a string (See also:

• PLATO

Plato, See also:

• REP, REPP, or REPS

Rep. iv . 436 E.) . In See also:

• HOMER, WINSLOW (1836-191o)

Homer (Il. xiv . 413) the word trrpbpfios seems to point to the humming top . The Latin name for the top was turbo . This word and the Greek A6 3os are sometimes translated by " top " when they refer to the See also:

• INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument used in the Dionysiac mysteries, which, when whirled in the See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air by a string, produced a booming noise . This was no doubt the See also:

• EQUIVALENT

equivalent of the " See also:

• BULL
• BULL, GEORGE (1634–1710)
• BULL, JOHN (c. 1562–1628)
• BULL, OLE BORNEMANN (18ro-188o)

bull roarer " (q.v.) .

See also:

• STRUTT, JEDEDIAH (1726-1797)

Strutt (Games and Pastimes, 491) says that the top was known in See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England as See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early as the 14th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . For the scientific properties of the top see GYROSCOPE and GYROSTAT . This word must be distinguished from that signifying the highest or uppermost See also:

• PART

part of anything . It appears to have meant origin-ally a tuft or See also:

• CREST
• CREST (Lat. crista, a plume or tuft)

crest of See also:

• HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

hair, cf . Ger . Zopf, Du. top, Icel . Copps, &c.; it is allied to Eng . " tap," a spike for a cask, and " tip," point . Some etymologists have identified the two words, the toy being so called from See also:

• SPINNING (from O. Eng. spinnen, to spin, cf. Ger. spinnen, &c., the Teut. root is seen, to draw out, cf. span, spider)

spinning on its top or tip, but the two See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German forms seem to prove conclusively that the words are different .