topic

Etymology

From Latin topica, from Ancient Greek τοπικός (topikós, “pertaining to a place, local, pertaining to a common place, or topic, topical”), from τόπος (tópos, “a place”), of Pre-Greek origin.

adj

1. topical

noun

1. Subject; theme; a category or general area of interest.
   A society where a topic cannot be discussed, does not have free speech.
   stick to the topic
   an interesting topic of conversation
   romance is a topic that frequently comes up in conversation
   The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. 2013-08-03, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
2. (Internet) Discussion thread.
3. (music) A musical sign intended to suggest a particular style or genre.
   In Peircean terms, topics are interpretants: signifieds that become new signifiers in the endless semiotic chain of interpretations. 2012, Esti Sheinberg, Music Semiotics, page 9
4. (obsolete) An argument or reason.
   contumacious persons, who are not to be fixed by any principles, whom no topics can work upon 1675, John Wilkins, Of the Principle and Duties of Natural Religion
5. (obsolete, medicine) An external local application or remedy, such as a plaster, a blister, etc.