toupie

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French toupie (“spinning top”), from Old French topoie (“spinning top”), probably from Frankish *topp (“spinning top”), uncertain whether from *tuppaz (“top, summit, peak”), if so then so called because the toy spins on its tip, which is the top. Cognate with Middle Dutch top, topp (“spinning top”), dialectal Dutch top and dop (“spinning top”) against standard tol, West Frisian top (“spinning top”), Middle English and English top (“spinning top”), Old High German topf (“spinning top”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tu.pi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

toupie f (plural toupies)

1. (spinning) top

Further reading

• “toupie”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• “top, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, (Can we date this quote?).

Anagrams

• utopie

Middle French

Noun

toupie f (plural toupies)

1. spinning top
   • 1607, Jacques Suarez de Sainte-Marie, Trésor Quadragésimal enrichi de plusieurs...considérations tant de l'Escriture Saincte que de la doctrine des Saincts Pères pour les sermons de tous les jours du Caresme, page 801:

     Voyla une belle comparaison : un enfant prend une toupie qui est un morceau de bois sans vie & le fait tellement tourner qu il semble animé

     Here is a good comparison: a child takes a spinning top which is a lifeless piece of wood and makes it spin so much it seems to be alive