arete
noun
the aggregate of qualities, as valor and virtue, making up good character.
arete
1 American
[ahr-i-tey]
/ ˌɑr ɪˈteɪ /
noun
arête
2
American
[uh-reyt]
/ əˈreɪt /
noun
Physical Geography, Geology.
arête
British
/ əˈrɛt, əˈreɪt /
noun
arête
Scientific
/ ə-rāt′ /
Etymology
Origin of arete1
First recorded in 1550–70; from Greek aretḗ “excellence, virtue”
Origin of arête2
First recorded in 1860–65; from French: literally, “fishbone, ridge, bridge (of the nose),” from Old French areste “sharp ridge,” from Latin arista “ear of grain (wheat), awn”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Both poems celebrated arete — a Greek virtue which can be translated in English as “excellence” and “success,” but must be understood as a moral characteristic as much as a physical or mental one.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2019
This funky goop, called gloios and thought to contain the essence of arete — valor, excellence — was often funneled into small vials and sold at gyms for medicinal purposes.
From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2016
In doing so, they sacrifice the wallet’s core virtue—what Plato would have called its arete.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2015
“The themes of Walt’s need to express his excellence — arete — has been there from the beginning,” Cyrino said.
From Forbes ● Sep. 28, 2013
Aristotle sought to rescue rhetoric from its place as a purely instrumental art: the highest rhetorical accomplishment, for Aristotle, was an expression of arete, or virtue.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Far below, fast-flowing meltwater cuts a frozen ravine into the glacier; above, on the horizon, the Grandes Jorasses arête, a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys, soars with terrifying verticality.
From National Geographic ● Apr. 16, 2023
In ancient Greek, the word for virtue was arête, which can also be translated as “excellence.”
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
To determine the arête, or excellence, of something, you have to know what its purpose or function is.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
For example, the purpose of a knife is to cut things, so its arête is sharpness.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022
The shrill whistle of the blast tore past their ears, singing through the weather-beaten herbage which straggled upon the side of the arête.
From Fordham's Feud by Bertram Mitford
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
