Old Russian words often confuse us. For example, what is a tip? How is it spelled correctly, what does it mean? Let's try to figure it out.
Origin of the word
Dictionaries will best tell us what a top is. According to Vladimir Dahl, the measure of length equal to 1/16 arshin was once called that. In general, before, people did not bother inventing any special quantities for measurement. Everything was at hand. For example, a span is the distance between the thumb and forefinger, the elbow is the length of the hand from the tips of the fingers to the elbow, and so on. The word apex has the same origin. The measure takes its name from the word "top" and is equal to the length of the first phalanx of the index finger. In the metric system, one vertex is 4.4-4.5 cm.
Direct meaning
Before the introduction of the metric system, this measure was applied throughout the territory of Ancient Russia, Muscovy, and then the Russian Empire. The proliferation of this concept is well reflected in the proverbs known now. About a person of small stature, we say "two inches from the pot", about the talker we laugh - "he’s from the top, and the words - from the pot." As you can see, the answer to the question of what tops can be found in our proverbs and sayings.
In the meaning of "small distance" this concept was used in other areas of human activity. For example, the proverb “you plow five points — wait five weeks without rain” reflects the requirement to plow the land better. And the proverb “search every tip” speaks of a long and very thorough search for something.
Minor Values
Sometimes you can even guess intuitively about what a vertex is. For example, in the old fairy tale about a bear and a man, the saying “you are tops and roots to me” does not speak of tops as a measure. Rather, it is the part of the plant that protrudes above the ground.
One can also guess what a vertex is from the indirect meanings of this word. In the southern part of Russia and Ukraine, the tops are called cream skimmed from milk. And here the ability of milk fat to go up is taken into account. We can conclude that both words came from the position of objects in space. True, the word "tops" is used only in the plural and only in local dialects or other Slavic languages.
Surnames associated with the word "tops" are well known today. The direct name of the measure of length has also become someone's surname. And such surnames as Vershkov, Vershko or Vershikov are often found among our friends and acquaintances.