before a vowel top-, a. Gr. τοπο-, combining form of τόπος place, as in τοπο-γράφος topographer; a formative element in various words.
Topolatry [-LATRY], excessive reverence for a place. Topomorph [Gr. μορφή form]: see quot. Toponarcosis, local narcosis. Toponeural a., having separate marginal sense-organs; as in the Toponeura, a proposed division of Hydrozoa. Topophobia, a morbid dread of certain places. Topopolitan a. [Gr. πολίτ-ης citizen: cf. cosmopolitan], that inhabits a definite or restricted locality. Topotype, a specimen from the locality where the original type-specimen was obtained; hence Topotypic, -ical adjs., of or pertaining to a topotype.
1875. C. Clermont-Ganneau, in Macm. Mag. XXXII. 367/1. This little land [Palestine] became the object of a special adoration, a kind of *topolatry, when the Church mounted with Constantine the throne of the Cæsars, and assumed the imperial diadem, after having worn so long the martyr’s crown.
1897. Sclater, in Geog. Jrnl., June, 673. Various areas [of the earth] are characterized by the presence of certain forms of animal life which do not occur elsewhere. These forms it is proposed to call *‘Topomorphs.’ Thus the giraffe is a ‘Topomorph’ of the Æthiopian region.
1860. Mayne, Expos. Lex., *Toponarcosis.
1890. Billings, Med. Dict., Toponarcosis, local anæsthesia.
1899. Syd. Soc. Lex., *Topophobia.
1897. Sclater, in Geog. Jrnl., June, 673. The sloths and anteaters are confined to tropical America, and the polar bear to the North Polar lands. Such animals may be called *‘topo-politan’ … in contradistinction to those that are universally distributed, or ‘cosmo-politan.’
1893. O. Thomas, in Proc. Zool. Soc., 14 March, 242. The word *topo-type (or place-type) might be suggested, but it should, so far as possible, be restricted to specimens collected within, say, a few miles of the original typical locality. Ibid. (1900), 3 April, 405. The Mice of Hilleröd, in Zealand (an almost *topotypical locality for the former name), belong to the latter form.
