English → Latin
“summit” in Latin
cacūmenpeak, extremity, top, summit; end, limit; accent mark placed over a letterculmenstalk; top, roof, summit, peak; height, acmevertexwhirl, whirlpool, eddy, vortex; eddy of wind or flame, whirlwind, coil of flame; top, crown of the headsuperusabove, upper, higherfastīgiumpeak, summit, top; extreme part, extremity of a thing; slope, declivity, descentcollumThe neck or throat.; A symbol of servitude.; A symbol of life.
The English word summit itself goes back to Latin summus, through summum.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
summit
PROP., Top of a mountain, etc., cacumen: culmen (cacumen = that which runs up to a point; hence of the summit of a pyramid, of a tree, etc.; culmen = “the highest part;” both also of the top of a mountain): ☞ fastigium (PROP., the gable of a roof represents the summit, as that which is most striking or conspicuous, but never in prose for the summit of a mountain): vertex (crown of the head; hence, top, summit; e.g., of a mountain): also frequently by circumlocution with summus; e.g., the summit of a mountain, summum jugum montis; mons summus; (with historians) summum montis or collis.
Figuratively, Height, fastigium; or, mostly, by circumlocution with summus, supremus; e.g., the summit of glory, gloria summa. To raise one’s self to the highest summit of human greatness or power, in summum fastigium emergere et attolli: to stand at the summit, stare in fastigio. Vid: also, HEIGHT.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for summit?
- The usual Latin words for “summit” are cacūmen, culmen, vertex; also superus, fastīgium, collum. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.