English

toprail

From top + rail.

A compound of top + rail

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

Middle English rail

English rail

Today it means

noun An upper rail, such as a guardrail in scaffolding.

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