Origin and history of topple

c. 1300, toppen, "cut or pull the top off (the hair); shave (the head);" from top (n.1). From c. 1500 in reference to a tree or plant. The sense of "put a top on" is from 15c. (implied in topping).

The meanings "be higher or greater than; rise above, surmount" are by 1580s. In Middle English the verb also had a sense of "fight, wrestle, struggle, rebel." The meaning "reach the top of" is by c. 1600.

In dyeing, "wash over with a different shade or color," by 1856. The meaning "strike (a ball) towards its top" in baseball, etc., is by 1881. Related: Topped; topping.

To top off is literally "to finish completely" (by putting on the uppermost part); the figurative colloquial use is by 1836. To top off in the sense of "fill up, add more to to bring to fullness" is attested from 1917.

derivational suffix, also -le, used mostly with verbs but originally also with nouns, "often denoting diminutive, repetitive, or intensive actions or events" [The Middle English Compendium], from Old English. Compare brastlian alongside berstan (see burst); nestlian (see nestle) alongside nistan). It is likely also in wrestle, trample, draggle, struggle, twinkle, also noddle "to make frequent nods" (1733), and Chapman (1607) has strapple "bind with a strap." To twangle (1550s) was "to twang (a musical instrument string) lightly or frequently." New formations in Middle English might be native formations (jostle from joust) with this or borrowings from Dutch.