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Summit vs Peak - What's the difference?

summit | peak |

Peak is a synonym of summit.



As nouns the difference between summit and peak

is that summit is a peak; the top of a mountain while peak is a point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.

As verbs the difference between summit and peak

is that summit is to reach the summit of a mountain while peak is to reach a highest degree or maximum.

summit

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (countable) A peak; the top of a mountain.
    • In summer, it is possible to hike to the summit of Mt. Shasta.
  • (countable) A gathering or assembly of leaders.
    • They met for an international summit on environmental issues.

    Usage notes

    Colloquially summit' is used for only the highest point of a mountain, while in mountaineering any point that is higher than surrounding points is a '''summit , such as the South Summit of (Mount Everest). These are distinguished by (topographic prominence) as ''subsummits'' (low prominence) or ''independent summits (high prominence).

    Synonyms

    * acme, apex, peak, zenith

    Derived terms

    * (l) * (l)

    Verb

  • (transitive, hiking, climbing, colloquial) To reach the summit of a mountain.
  • * 2012 , Kenza Moller, "Eyes on the North," Canadian Geographic , vol. 132, no. 4 (July/Aug.) p. 10:
    • Of the range's 12 peaks, Mount Saskatchewan is the only one that has yet to be summited .

    Anagrams

    * ----

    peak

    English

    (wikipedia peak)

    Etymology 1

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A point; the sharp end or top of anything that terminates in a point; as, the peak, or front, of a cap.
  • The highest value reached by some quantity in a time period.
    • The stock market reached a peak in September 1929.
  • * 2012 October 23, David Leonhardt, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/us/politics/race-for-president-leaves-income-slump-in-shadows.html?_r=1&hp]," New York Times (retrieved 24 October 2012):
    • By last year, family income was 8 percent lower than it had been 11 years earlier, at its peak in 2000, according to inflation-adjusted numbers from the Census Bureau.
  • (geography) The top, or one of the tops, of a hill, mountain, or range, ending in a point; often, the whole hill or mountain, especially when isolated; as, the Peak of Teneriffe.
  • (nautical) The upper aftermost corner of a fore-and-aft sail; -- used in many combinations; as, peak-halyards, peak-brails, etc.
  • (nautical) The narrow part of a vessel's bow, or the hold within it.
  • (nautical) The extremity of an anchor fluke; the bill.
  • (mathematics) A local maximum of a function, e.g. for sine waves, each point at which the value of y is at its maximum.
    • Synonyms
    * apex, pinnacle, top, summit * See also
    Derived terms
    * peakless * peaklike * peakwise

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To reach a highest degree or maximum.
    • Historians argue about when the Roman Empire began to peak and ultimately decay.
  • To rise or extend into a peak or point; to form, or appear as, a peak.
  • * Holland
    • There peaketh up a mighty high mount.
    Synonyms
    * culminate
    Derived terms
    * off-peak

    Etymology 2

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To become sick or wan.
  • To acquire sharpness of figure or features; hence, to look thin or sickly.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Dwindle, peak , and pine.
  • To pry; to peep slyly.
    • (Shakespeare)

    Etymology 3

    Verb

    (en verb)