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)[1]

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

   • 2025 April 24, Anna Silman, “Now comes the ‘womanosphere’: the anti-feminist media telling women to be thin, fertile and Republican”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     The leading voices of the womanosphere are using a similar strategy. As Brittany Hugoboom put it in an op–ed for the rightwing outlet Quillette: “Conservatives will never win if they imagine themselves as combatants atop defensive battlements, hurling abuse on the mass media. We need to involve ourselves in the creation of pop culture.”

2. On the top (with of).

   He sat atop of the mountain, waiting for the end of the world.

"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.

   • 2022, Sean Thor Conroe, Fuccboi‎^[3], Hachette, →ISBN:

     Probably cuddled up, spooning. Netflix auto-playing atop their shared covers.

• POTA, pato

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

atop

1. roof; thatch

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

atop

1. roof; thatch

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

• 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. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

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

• Audio:

  (file)

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. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

atop

1. roof

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

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

atóp

1. roof

   Synonym: bubongan

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Cognate with Mongondow atop, Tausug atup, Tagalog atip, Indonesian atap.

• IPA^(key): /ʔaˈtɔp/^[1]
• Hyphenation: a‧top

atop

1. roof

From Proto-Philippine *qatəp, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qatəp. Compare Malay atap, Tagalog atip, Tausug atup, Rungus ta'ap, Tambunan Dusun ta'ap, Lotud ta'ap and Kimaragang ta'ap.

atóp

1. roof; thatch