English

foretop

Foretop comes from Middle English fore-top.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Earliest quotation: 1903, Joseph Conrad: “His station was in the fore-top, and often from…”

Formed from fore- + top

Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before, formerly’

Proto-Germanic *fura- ‘before, in front of, for’

Proto-West Germanic *forē- ‘before, in front of, fore-, pre-’

English fore-

Proto-Germanic *tuppaz ‘braid’

Proto-West Germanic *topp ‘top’

Old English topp ‘top’

Middle English top ‘the peak of a mountain or other landform’

English top

Every English word from Middle English fore-top

noun The top of the head; the top of the forehead.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.