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to·pol·o·gy (tə-pŏlə-jē)
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n. pl. to·pol·o·gies
1. Topographic study of a given place, especially the history of a region as indicated by its topography.
2. Medicine The anatomical structure of a specific area or part of the body.
3. Mathematics
a. The study of certain properties that do not change as geometric figures or spaces undergo continuous deformation. These properties include openness, nearness, connectedness, and continuity.
b. The underlying structure that gives rise to such properties for a given figure or space: The topology of a doughnut and a picture frame are equivalent.
4. Computers The arrangement in which the nodes of a network are connected to each other.
top′o·logic (tŏp′ə-lŏjĭk), top′o·logi·cal (-ĭ-kəl) adj.
top′o·logi·cal·ly adv.
to·polo·gist n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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