atop

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Preposition 1.1.1 Usage notes 1.1.2 Derived terms 1.1.3 Synonyms 1.2 Adverb

[edit] English

[edit] Preposition

atop

1. On the top of.

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

   • 1966, The Minnesota Review, vol. 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.

2. On the top, with "of".

[edit] Usage notes

"Atop of" was formerly much more commonly used than now.

[edit] Derived terms

• thereatop

[edit] Synonyms

• ontop (mainly US)

[edit] Adverb

atop (not comparable)

1. (literary or archaic) On, to, or at the top.
   • 1909, William Dean Howells, Seven English Cities, Kessinger Publishing 2004, p. 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 1978, p. 102:

     The envoy found the French king playing the part of horse while his young son rode atop.