topic

American  

[top-ik] / ˈtɒp ɪk /

noun

• topics
  plural

1. a subject of conversation or discussion.

   to provide a topic for discussion.

2. the subject or theme of a discourse or of one of its parts.

   Synonyms:

   subject matter, thesis

3. Rhetoric, Logic. a general field of considerations from which arguments can be drawn.

4. 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.

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topic British  

/ ˈtɒpɪk /

noun

1. a subject or theme of a speech, essay, book, etc

2. a subject of conversation; item of discussion

3. (in rhetoric, logic, etc) a category or class of arguments or ideas which may be drawn on to furnish proofs

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Synonym Usage

See subject.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• topics
  plural

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; see topo-

Explanation

A topic is a subject. It's what you're discussing or what a newspaper article is about, the theme of a documentary, or the focus of your term paper. Green energy, the Oscar nominees, what's on the lunch menu, boxers or briefs — these are all considered topics. If something is a "hot topic," then everybody is talking about it. If it's a "topic for discussion," then someone wants to have a serious conversation about it. If you're at a dinner party, you can talk about all kinds of topics with other guests. But to keep peace at the table, avoid bringing up controversial political or religious topics.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

topic topics

"We have taken an important step towards carrying out an exciting experiment on this topic," says the professor of physics: "We want to measure the gravitational interaction of the muon."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

Once again, she’ll tackle an unsavory topic and figure out how to bring it to fruition; then distribute it come what may, because she refuses to be boxed in by the industry’s expectations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

Canadian social media has lit up with the topic.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

She said the topic would likely be on the agenda at the next UN disarmament meeting in November.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

I couldn’t afford to be the topic of neighborhood tittle-tattle.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Watch the full interview on a range of topics on Newsnight's new primetime Friday evening edition.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

He covers an array of topics including media and technology, markets, the economy and corporate news.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

The company is expected to report earnings on Sept. 30, and shareholder returns will be one of the most important topics on the earnings call, in Sankar’s view.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Researchers found surprisingly little agreement on topics ranging from black holes and dark matter to the long-running effort to reconcile Einstein's theory of gravity with quantum mechanics.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

People start calling out possible topics to Ms. Rochambeau, and she writes each of them on the whiteboard almost as fast as they come.

From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden

Related Words

• affair
• argument
• business
• case
• field
• issue
• material
• matter
• point
• problem
• proposition
• question
• subject
• theme