English

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.

   • 2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)

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

2. On the top, with "of".

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

• thereatop

Synonyms

• on top
• ontop (mainly US)

Translations

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.

Translations

Hiligaynon

Noun

atóp

1. roof

Verb

atóp

1. to roof