arete
the aggregate of qualities, as valor and virtue, making up good character: Our greatest national heroes not only did extraordinary things, but had enormous arete.
Origin of arete
1Words that may be confused with arete
- arete , arête
Other definitions for arête (2 of 2)
a sharp rugged mountain ridge, produced by glaciation.
Origin of arête
2Words that may be confused with arête
- arete, arête
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use arete in a sentence
The southern wall, though shrouded, seemed to rise in an unending series of beetling arêtes.
Nan of Music Mountain | Frank H. SpearmanOn the 20th Warren, having crept up the arêtes and dongas, began his attack.
London to Ladysmith via Pretoria | Winston Spencer ChurchillBeyond the two arêtes the climbing on Cyfrwy is inferior, but between them there are a few interesting routes up the crags.
Climbing in The British Isles, Vol. II | W. P. Haskett Smith
British Dictionary definitions for arête
/ (əˈreɪt, əˈrɛt) /
a sharp ridge separating two cirques or glacial valleys in mountainous regions
Origin of arête
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for arête
[ ə-rāt′ ]
A sharp, narrow ridge or spur commonly found above the snow line in mountainous areas that have been sculpted by glaciers. Arêtes form as the result of the continued backward erosion of adjoining cirques.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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