topical

English

Etymology

From topic +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɒp.ɪ.kəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -ɒpɪkəl
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑ.pɪ.kəl/

  • Audio (New Jersey):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑpɪkəl

Adjective

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Topical medication

Wikipedia

topical (comparative more topical, superlative most topical)

2. Relating to a particular topic or subject.

   The book is divided into topical chapters.

4. Relating to a topic or subject of current interest.

   Fair trade has become quite a topical issue.

6. Local to a particular place.
8. (medicine, not comparable) Applied to a localized part of the body.

   Antonym: systemic

10. (medicine, not comparable) Applied externally (to the surface of the skin or eye).
    • 2003, Peter G. Pappas, “Terbinafine”, in William E. Dismukes, Peter G. Pappas, Jack D. Sobel, editors, Clinical Mycology, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 106:

      Terbinafine is available in 250 mg tablets and in a topical 1% ointment. There is no parenteral form available.

12. Arranged according to topic or theme; thematic.

Related terms

• toponymic

Translations

relating to a particular topic or subject

Finnish: aiheenmukainen German: themenbezogen, thematisch (de)

of current interest

Bulgarian: актуа́лен (bg) (aktuálen), злободневен (bg) (zlobodneven) Chinese: Mandarin: 有关时事的, 热门的 Dutch: actueel (nl) Esperanto: aktuala Finnish: ajankohtainen (fi) French: d’actualité (fr) f German: aktuell (de), gegenwartsbezogen, zeitgemäß (de), gegenwartsnah, gegenwartsrelevant Hindi: प्रासंगिक (hi) (prāsaṅgik) Hungarian: aktuális (hu), időszerű (hu) Indonesian: aktual (id) Italian: topico (it) Manx: traaoil Polish: aktualny (pl) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: а̏ктуа̄лан Roman: ȁktuālan (sh)

local to a particular place

Bulgarian: местен (bg) (mesten) Chinese: Mandarin: 地方的 Finnish: paikallinen (fi) French: local (fr) German: örtlich (begrenzt) Hebrew: מקומי (he) Hungarian: helyi (hu) Italian: topico (it) Portuguese: tópico (pt)

medicine: applied to a localized part of the body

Bulgarian: локален (bg) (lokalen) Chinese: Mandarin: 局部的, 外用的 Finnish: paikallinen (fi) French: topique (fr) German: örtlich (de), topisch (de), lokal (de) Hungarian: helyi (hu), lokális (hu) Italian: topico (it) Occitan: topic (oc) Portuguese: tópico (pt) Russian: насущный (ru) (nasuščnyj) Spanish: tópico (es)

medicine: applied externally

Chinese: Mandarin: 塗於身體表面的／涂于身体表面的 Finnish: ulkoinen (fi), ulkoisesti käytettävä German: äußerlich (de), örtlich (de), lokal (de) Hungarian: lokális (hu) Italian: topico (it) Portuguese: tópico (pt)

arranged according to topic or theme

Chinese: Mandarin: 题目的, 论题的 Finnish: aiheenmukainen, temaattinen (fi) German: thematisch (de) Hungarian: téma szerinti, tematikus (hu), tárgy szerinti Italian: topico (it) Ukrainian: тематичний (tematyčnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

German: (please verify) topisch (de) Manx: (please verify) bun-chooishagh Scottish Gaelic: (please verify) co-aimsireil

See also

• (applied externally): superficial

Noun

topical (plural topicals)

1. A substance, especially a medication, applied externally (to the surface of the skin or eye).
   • 2012 August 8, Alix Strauss, “Marketing Time in a Bottle Pays Off”, in The New York Times‎:

     Small amounts of potent ingredients can, in theory, mean far less skin irritation, as one might get with a one-time high dose of retinol. And with topicals, there is a more uniform delivery of product to the skin’s surface.

   • 2016 March 30, Kate Branch, “Whoopi Goldberg Wants to Cure Your PMS—With Cannabis”, in Glamour‎:

     "This is a great introductory line to first-time cannabis users because two of the items are topicals, which don't get you high," says Elisabeth, who prides herself and her growers on having a well-balanced and chemical-free strand.

   1. (pharmacology) A topical anaesthetic.
2. A joke dealing with current events or topical subjects.
   • 2017 November 4, Michael Billington, “Ken Dodd at 90: the rib-tickling genius is still crazy after all these years”, in The Guardian‎:

     You can’t do a show at an audience – you have to do a show with an audience and structure the act so that you start with the “hello” gags, then the topicals, then the surreal stuff.

3. (philately) A postage stamp depicting a particular theme or subject (such as birds or trains), potentially sought out by topical stamp collectors.
   • 1956 December, “Classified Advertisements: Stamp collecting”, in Popular Mechanics, volume 106, number 6, page 57:

     beautiful Pictorials, topicals, commemoratives, airmails. Introductory selection 40% discount. Ralph Rice, 15 Longlane, West Hartford 7, Conn.

Anagrams

• pit coal, optical, pitcoal, coalpit, Policat, capitol, Capitol, coal pit, lipcoat