English
arete
Arete comes from Ancient Greek ἀρετή ‘human goodness, human excellence/superlativity’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀρετήaretḗ‘human goodness, human excellence/superlativity’
- Englishearliest quotation 1962arete
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀρετήaretḗ‘human goodness, human excellence/superlativity’
- Englishearliest quotation 1962arete
Earliest quotation: 1962, Lionel Ignacius Cusack Pearson, Popular Ethics in Ancient Greece: “All arete is included in justice, Cyrnus.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’
order, reason, ready, art, article, rate, army, artist, ratio, arm, ordinary, alarm, coordination, harmony, armor, coordinate, ordination, arthritis, ornament, anarchy, subordinate, articulate, inertia, harmonic, inert, aristocratic, arithmetic, artisan, adorn, harmonious, ornate, articulation, armament, ordinator, ordinate, ordinal, rta, armadillo, rime, ordain, 80 more
Today it means
noun excellence, goodness; virtue.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἀρετή / arete