topic
Americannoun
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a subject of conversation or discussion.
to provide a topic for discussion.
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the subject or theme of a discourse or of one of its parts.
- Synonyms:
- subject matter, thesis
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Rhetoric, Logic. a general field of considerations from which arguments can be drawn.
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Also called theme. Linguistics. the part of a sentence that announces the item about which the rest of the sentence communicates information, often signaled by initial position in the sentence or by a grammatical marker.
noun
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a subject or theme of a speech, essay, book, etc
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a subject of conversation; item of discussion
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(in rhetoric, logic, etc) a category or class of arguments or ideas which may be drawn on to furnish proofs
Related Words
See subject.
Etymology
Origin of topic
First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin topica (plural), from Greek (tà) topiká name of work by Aristotle (literally, “(things) pertaining to commonplaces),” equivalent to tóp(os) “commonplace” + -ika, neuter plural of -ikos -ic; topo-
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Greenland often appears in global headlines because of topics such as mining, geopolitics, and climate change.
From Science Daily
Researchers observed 2,500 participants who wrote on several controversial topics including the death penalty, fracking and voting rights.
From Los Angeles Times
And other topics we explore include how artificial intelligence may actually be increasing our workloads, and accolades for actor Coleman Domingo.
"The president looks forward to his visit to China, where he and President Xi will discuss a range of topics of importance to the world's two largest economies."
From Barron's
Navy pilots seeing unexplained aerial phenomenon, then by a 2023 Congressional subcommittee hearing on the topic.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
