different between situation vs topic

English

Alternative forms

• scituation (hyper?correct, obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English situacioun, situacion, from Middle French situation, from Medieval Latin situatio (“position, situation”), from situare (“to locate, place”), from Latin situs (“a site”). Equivalent to situate +? -ion

Pronunciation

• enPR: s?t-yo?o-?'sh?n, s?ch-o?o-?'sh?n, IPA^(key): /s?tju??e???n/, /s?t?u?(w)e???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

situation (plural situations)

1. The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
2. The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows:

     ...he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.

3. The place in which something is situated; a location.
   • 1833, Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory, page 142:

     [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.

4. Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
5. (Britain) A position of employment; a post.
   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin 2006, page 78:

     When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.

   • 1946, Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie:

     You take a morning paper from the top of the stack

     And read the situations from the front to the back

     The only job that's open need a man with a knack

     So put it right back in the rack Jack.

6. A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.

   Boss, we've got a situation here...

Synonyms

• (combination of circumstances): condition, set up; see also Thesaurus:state

Related terms

• site
• situate
• situated
• situationism

Translations

See also

• situation comedy, sitcom

References

• Source for the definitions:
  • Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. [1] (accessed: March 10, 2007).
• situation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• situation in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• situation at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• titanious

French

Etymology

situer +? -ation

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.t?a.sj??/

Noun

situation f (plural situations)

1. situation (all meanings)

Derived terms

• mise en situation
• situation intéressante

Descendants

• ? Romanian: situa?ie

Further reading

• “situation” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Interlingua

Noun

situation (plural situationes)

1. situation, state of affairs

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?tva??u?n/, /s?t?a??u?n/

Noun

situation c

1. a situation

Declension

Synonyms

• läge

Related terms

• nödsituation
• situationskomik

English

Alternative forms

• topick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin topica, from Ancient Greek ??????? (topikós, “pertaining to a place, local, pertaining to a common place, or topic, topical”), from ????? (tópos, “a place”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?t?p?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?t?p?k/
• Rhymes: -?p?k
• Hyphenation: top?ic

Adjective

topic

1. topical

Noun

topic (plural topics)

1. Subject; theme; a category or general area of interest.
2. (Internet) Discussion thread.
3. (music) A musical sign intended to suggest a particular style or genre.
   • 2012, Esti Sheinberg, Music Semiotics (page 9)

     In Peircean terms, topics are interpretants: signifieds that become new signifiers in the endless semiotic chain of interpretations.

4. (obsolete) An argument or reason.
   • 1675, John Wilkins, Of the Principle and Duties of Natural Religion

     contumacious persons, who are not to be fixed by any principles, whom no topics can work upon

5. (obsolete, medicine) An external local application or remedy, such as a plaster, a blister, etc.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wiseman to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (area of interest): subject, subject area

Derived terms

• -topic

Translations

Further reading

• topic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• topic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• cop it, optic, picot