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Showing results for arete.
Synonyms

arete

1 American  
[ahr-i-tey] / ˌɑr ɪˈteɪ /

noun

  1. 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.
arête 2 American  
[uh-reyt] / əˈreɪt /

noun

Physical Geography, Geology.

  1. a sharp rugged mountain ridge, produced by glaciation.

arête British  
/ əˈrɛt, əˈreɪt /

noun

  1. a sharp ridge separating two cirques or glacial valleys in mountainous regions

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
arête Scientific  
/ ə-rāt′ /

  1. 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.

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.

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

In doing so, they sacrifice the wallet’s core virtue—what Plato would have called its arete.

From Slate • Feb. 19, 2015

Yet here, in Mr. Mariota, we seem to have a young man whose stellar athletic accomplishments and exemplary off-field conduct is worthy, and emblematic of, the ancient Greek ideal of excellence known as arete.

From New York Times • Dec. 13, 2014

“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

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.