summit (n.)

c. 1400, "highest point, peak," from Old French somete "summit, top," diminutive of som, sum "highest part, top of a hill," from Latin summum, neuter of noun use of summus "highest," related to super "over" (from PIE root *uper "over"). The meaning "meeting of heads of state" (1950) is from Winston Churchill's metaphor of "a parley at the summit."

updated on December 07, 2020