# homotopy

> English word · Noun · IPA /həˈmɑtəpi/ · frequency rank #76,857

## Definitions
1. A continuous deformation of one continuous function or map to another.
2. The relationship between two continuous functions where homotopy from one to the other is evident.
3. Ellipsis of homotopy theory (“the systematic study of homotopies and their equivalence classes”).
4. A theory associating a system of groups with each topological space.
5. A system of groups associated with a topological space.

## Etymology
From Ancient Greek ὁμός (homós, “same, similar”) + τόπος (tópos, “place”); earliest known use in print in 1922, Oswald Veblen, Analysis Situs.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/homotopy