Etymologically
Log in

summitas

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word summitas

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
98–117 AD, Balbus
Ultimate origin
Latin summus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin summus
Latin summitas
From the same root
Latin summe ← summus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsʊm.mɪ.taːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsum.mi.tas][1]

Forms

summitās f (genitive summitātis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin summus (“highest, topmost”) + -tās.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is the land surveyor Balbus,[2] dated by Köbler to 98–117 AD,[3] who uses it in geometry for a surface, something that has only length and breadth.[2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call the word post-classical.[4] Apuleius uses it in his account of Plato for a culminating state, beside “means” and virtues,[2][5] but its usual sense became the highest part of something, its top or summit: the top of the earth in Censorinus, the highest point of a vine in Palladius, and in Ammianus and Jerome a top or extremity.[4][5] Arnobius speaks of the god who holds the summit of all the highest things.[4]

In medieval Latin it also meant height or tallness, the top of a mountain (in Gildas and Bede), the top part of an object or page, an extremity or tip, and a culmination.[6] Italian sommità comes from the post-classical word.[5]

Timeline

  • 98–117 AD – Balbus uses it in geometry for a surface.[2][3]
  • 1st half of the 2nd century AD – Censorinus speaks of the top of the earth.[4][3]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for a culminating state in Plato's ethics.[2][3]
  • 297–310 AD – Arnobius speaks of the god who holds the summit of all things.[4][3]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it for the top or extremity of something.[4][5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (geometry) A surface.[2]
  2. (philosophy) A culminating state, the highest degree.[2][5]
  3. The highest part, top, summit.[4][7][8][9]
  4. An extremity, tip.[5][6]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Height, altitude.[6]

Usage notes

At Pliny the Elder 37.118, where older texts read summitas, editors now read nives imitata.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Summitas.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/summitas. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·