noun

1. Historical
   1. a class or category of considerations or arguments on which a rhetorician may draw
   2. one such consideration or argument
2. the subject of a paragraph, essay, speech, etc.
3. a subject for discussion or conversation
4. a heading or item in an outline

Etymology: L topica < Gr ta topika, title of a work by Aristotle < topikos, local, concerning < topoi, commonplaces < topos, place < IE base *top-, to arrive, goal > OE thafian, to endure