arete

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, 2020

This funky goop, called gloios and thought to contain the essence of arete — valor, excellence — was often funneled into small vials and sold at gyms for medicinal purposes.

From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2016

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

From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2015

“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

Far below, fast-flowing meltwater cuts a frozen ravine into the glacier; above, on the horizon, the Grandes Jorasses arête, a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys, soars with terrifying verticality.

From National Geographic ● Apr. 16, 2023

To determine the arête, or excellence, of something, you have to know what its purpose or function is.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

For example, the purpose of a knife is to cut things, so its arête is sharpness.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

It is easier to determine the arête of a practical object like a knife than the arête of a person.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

Starting from the hut at daylight, we reached at an early hour the summit of the ‘shoulder,’ and then traversed its arête to the final peak of the Matterhorn.

From The Ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper