PIE word *upó The noun is derived from Late Middle English somet, somete (“head, top”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman sumet and Middle French sommet (masculine), somete, sommette (“top of a thing; highest point of a mountain”) (feminine) (modern French sommet), from Old French somet, sommette, from som, sum (“highest point, summit”) + -et (suffix forming diminutive masculine nouns), -ete, -ette (suffix forming diminutive feminine nouns). Som, sum are derived from Latin summum (“top, summit”), a noun use of the neuter of summus (“greatest, highest; top, uppermost”, adjective) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over”) + *-m̥mos, *-tm̥mos (“suffix forming superlative adjectives”)). The modern English spelling was influenced by summity (“height or top of a thing; utmost degree, perfection”) (obsolete). The verb is derived from the noun.
The highest point of a hill, mountain, or similar geographical feature.
In summer, it is possible to hike to the summit of Mount Shasta.
How can I crawl up to reach those heights / And run? / The venom is what keeps me alive / The venom is what keeps me alive / Up to the summit at night / Desperate to find that beating heart of mine that always makes me run2021 September 17, “The Summit”, in Eternal Blue, performed by Spiritbox, Portland, Or.: Rise Records, →OCLC:
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Mathematics, Sciences A vertex of a polygon or polyhedron.
Biology, Botany, Natural sciencesObsolete Synonym of anther (“the pollen-bearing part of the stamen of a flower”) or (rare) stigma (“the sticky part of a flower that receives pollen during pollination”).
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Chemistry, Crystallography, Natural sciences, Physical sciencesObsolete, Rare One of the two vertices of a crystal with a rhombohedral shape where the angles of each face are equal; also, the highest point of a crystal with a pyramidal or tetrahedral shape.
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Figuratively The highest point of achievement, development, etc., that can be reached; the acme, the pinnacle.
Learning from others as from himself, he reached the summit of his development with his latest work.1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, “VI. Orestea. I: Agamemnon”, in Aeschylean Tragedy, page 153:
Government, PoliticsBroadly, Figuratively An assembly or gathering of the leaders of countries to discuss issues of international significance; also (loosely), an important or high-level gathering or meeting.
They met for an international summit on environmental issues.
PIE word *upó The noun is derived from Late Middle English somet, somete (“head, top”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman sumet and Middle French sommet (masculine), somete, sommette (“top of a thing; highest point of a mountain”) (feminine) (modern French sommet), from Old French somet, sommette, from som, sum (“highest point, summit”) + -et (suffix forming diminutive masculine nouns), -ete, -ette (suffix forming diminutive feminine nouns). Som, sum are derived from Latin summum (“top, summit”), a noun use of the neuter of summus (“greatest, highest; top, uppermost”, adjective) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upér (“over”) + *-m̥mos, *-tm̥mos (“suffix forming superlative adjectives”)). The modern English spelling was influenced by summity (“height or top of a thing; utmost degree, perfection”) (obsolete). The verb is derived from the noun.
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Climbing, Hobbies, Lifestyle, SportsInformal To reach the summit (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1) of (a mountain).
Of the range's 12 peaks, Mount Saskatchewan is the only one that has yet to be summited.2012 July–August, Kenza Moller, “Eyes on the North”, in Canadian Geographic, volume 132, number 4, Ottawa: Royal Canadian Geographical Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10:
Government, Politics To attend a summit (noun etymology 1, noun sense 2.2.2).
If the Soviet leaders could go on summiting with the US while bombs poured on North Vietnam and yet claim that they had nothing but the best interests of the Vietnamese revolution in mind, there seems precious little reason to cry wolf at Peking-Bonn relations.1969, Economic and Political Weekly, volume 4, numbers 14-26, page 645:
[…] what the North Vietnamese would do while Richard Nixon was summiting in Moscow. […]1972, Newsweek, volume 79, page 51:
3 more examples
The young President [JFK], who is on the eve of summiting with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, is ensconced at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, preparing to fly to Vienna with his wife, Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy, to meet with Khrushchev to discuss Cold War issues.1998, David S. Nuttall, Mickey Mantle's Greatest Hits, page 152:
The President had been summiting with Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev in Vienna.2001, Robert V. Heffernan, Cabinetmakers: Story of the Three-year Battle to Establish the U.S. Department of Education, page 439:
From May 29 to June 3, 1988[,] Reagan and Gorbachev summited in Moscow. Expectations of the meeting were low, because Reagan's position as a "lame duck" president guaranteed that nothing new of historic import would occur.2021, Mark LaVoie, Reagan’s Soviet Rhetoric: Telling the Soviet Redemption Story, page 92: