[Fr.:—OF. areste:—L. arista ear of corn, fish-bone or spine, hence, in Fr., ridge, sharp edge. Cf. ARRIS.] A sharp ascending ridge or ‘edge’ of a mountain. The local name in French Switzerland, whence it has become a technical term with mountain-climbers.
1862. Lond. Rev., 23 Aug., 164. The Weisshorn … is formed of three great ridges, like the edges of a bayonet, culminating in a beautiful pyramidal point. Two of the arêtes are probably impracticable.
1865. Sat. Rev., 29 July, 141/2. Three ridges or arêtes of precipitous rock.
