topee

American  

[toh-pee, toh-pee] / toʊˈpi, ˈtoʊ pi /

Or topi

noun

1. (in India) a lightweight helmet or sun hat made from the pith of the sola plant.

---

topee British  

/ -pɪ, ˈtəʊpiː /

noun

1. another name for pith helmet

---

Etymology

Origin of topee

First recorded in 1825–35, topee is from the Hindi word ṭopī hat

Example Sentences

He laid his topee carefully on a palm stump so the slipstream wouldn't blow it off and climbed up on the wing beside my cockpit.

From Time Magazine Archive

He had on a white topee, and was accompanied by three or four men dressed like him in shorts.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

He entered, and accosting a white-clad Englishman in an enormous solar topee, whom he found there, inquired if he could tell whether his friend was at home.

From The Red Rat's Daughter by Boothby, Guy

Ten minutes later the housekeeper might have been seen, in a huge mushroom topee and with a large white umbrella, crossing the compound in the direction of the camping-ground chosen by Alderbury's driver and servant.

From The Outcaste by Penny, F. E.

They were still more surprised when they recognised, seated in the stern of this canoe, the white solar topee and the black coat of a European.

From The Fire-Gods A Tale of the Congo by Gilson, Charles