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  • arete
    arete
    noun
    the aggregate of qualities, as valor and virtue, making up good character.
  • arête
    arête
    noun
    a sharp rugged mountain ridge, produced by glaciation.
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”

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.