2021-02-08
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด S – Summit & peak & top
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง summit = ‘SUHM-it’
ออกเสียง peak = ‘PEEK’
ออกเสียง top = ‘TOP’
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for summit
Noun
SUMMIT, PEAK, PINNACLE, CLIMAX, APEX, ACME, CULMINATION
mean the highest point attained or attainable.
SUMMIT implies the topmost level attainable.
at the summit of the Victorian social scene
PEAK suggests the highest among other high points.
an artist working at the peak of her powers
PINNACLE suggests a dizzying and often insecure height.
the pinnacle of worldly success
CLIMAX implies the highest point in an ascending series.
the war was the climax to a series of hostile actions
APEX implies the point where all ascending lines converge.
the apex of Dutch culture
ACME implies a level of quality representing the perfection of a thing.
a statue that was once deemed the acme of beauty
CULMINATION suggests the outcome of a growth or development representing an attained objective.
the culmination of years of effort
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for peak
Noun
SUMMIT, PEAK, PINNACLE, CLIMAX, APEX, ACME, CULMINATION
mean the highest point attained or attainable.
SUMMIT implies the topmost level attainable.
at the summit of the Victorian social scene
PEAK suggests the highest among other high points.
an artist working at the peak of her powers
PINNACLE suggests a dizzying and often insecure height.
the pinnacle of worldly success
CLIMAX implies the highest point in an ascending series.
the war was the climax to a series of hostile actions
APEX implies the point where all ascending lines converge.
the apex of Dutch culture
ACME implies a level of quality representing the perfection of a thing.
a statue that was once deemed the acme of beauty
CULMINATION suggests the outcome of a growth or development representingan attained objective.
the culmination of years of effort
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Peek vs. Peak vs. Pique
Peek, peak, and pique:
they sound the same but mean very different things.
The first one we learn is peek:
it has to do with looking,
especially furtively or quickly or through a small space,
as in "open the box and peek inside."
It's both a noun and a verb;
when you peek, you take a peek.
Our advice for remembering this one is
to keep in mind that you peek in order tosee.
Peak is the verb you use to talk about reaching a maximum,
or coming to a highest point, literallyor figuratively,
as in
"The meteor shower will last for several days but will peak on Sunday."
Its noun counterpart, which refers to various pointed or projecting parts,
is more common:
something that peaks reaches a peak.
Just as every mountain has a peak,
thinking of the peak—the highest point
—is the way to remember that peak is the choice
for reaching the highest levels.
Associating the "a" in peak with the "a" in maximum
or with a capital "A" (the most mountain-like of letters) can be helpful.
Pique is the oddball of this trio.
We know the "ique" spelling from the likes
of technique, antique,and unique,
but pique nonetheless looks a little exotic.
It comes from a French word meaning literally "to prick,"
but its earliest English use was as a noun.
The noun is still used:
a pique is a transient feeling of wounded vanity
—a kind of resentment.
As a verb, pique was (and still is, especially in British English)
used to mean "to arouse anger or resentmentin,"
as in "Their rudeness piqued me."
Now, however, it's most often our interest or curiositythat gets piqued
—that is to say, our interest or curiosityis aroused,
as in "The large key hanging next on the wall piqued my curiosity."
Pique has another meaning too,
though it's less common than any of those already mentioned.
Pique sometimes is used to mean"to take pride in (oneself),"
as in "She piques herself on her editing skills."
Master this trio, and you can piqueyourself on your word skills.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Words We're Watching
Reaching Peak 'Peak': A Meta Study
Bring on the think pieces.
Update: This word was added in April 2019
We are always striving for the peak.
The peak of the mountain is the point
at which the climber can go no higher.
One is most successful at the peak of one's career,
but a fad that has peaked will never reclaim that level of popularity.
Adjectival use of 'peak' originated with the phrase 'peak oil.'
Like mountains, line graphs have peaks,
the point at which the highest number or levelis attained,
whether that refers to profit margins, opinion polls, or blood pressure.
Hairstyles can have peaks, as can bowls of whipped cream.
Peak can also be an adjective.
It can mean "at or reaching the maximum":
Peak levels of ozone,
the most dangerous pollutant, have dropped in Los Angeles
to a quarter of what they were in 1955,
despite huge increases in population and traffic.
— Robert Reinhold, The New York Times, 26 Nov. 1992
Sports drinks help prolong an athlete's peak performance and replace sodium lost in perspiration.
— Susan Gilbert, The New York Times, 2 Nov. 1999
Peak can also mean "of, relating to, or being
a period of maximum intensity or activity":
During peak hours on weekdays,
it is a 15-minute wait for one of the Staten Island ferries to heave into the terminal.
— N. R. Kleinfield, The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2003
The Clintons made an O.T.R. (“on the run”) visit to the Hamptons at peak lemming season.
— Gail Sheehy, Vanity Fair, February 1999
Adjectival use of peak to refer to
situations that have reached maximum capacity
have an originating model in peak oil,
a term coined in 1956 by geoscientist Marion King Hubbert.
In a paper presented to the American Petroleum Institute,
Hubbert employed the term as part of a projection of U.S. petroleum production, estimating that the maximum potential production would top off sometime between 1965 and 1975 at roughly 2.5 billion to 3 billion barrels per year.
Production would then decline irreversibly in the following decades as reserves dried up.
(Indeed, the year 1970 ended up being the highest year for oil production in the U.S. in the pre-fracking era.) Use of peak in this manner highlights the stress placed on a finite reserve of something.
Nowadays, when we seek peak in front of a noun,
it's often describing something that has become such a popular trend
as to be ridiculous, likely never to be surpassed.
There's often a tinge of exasperation in describing things
as peak, suggesting that,
like peak oil, the well of creativity surrounding the trend has run dry:
So where does that leave you and your obsessive avocado habit?
If we've indeed reached "Peak Avocado,"
then the trend lines are heading in an unpalatable direction.
Climate change, fungus, drought, and crime, don't spell a bountiful future for the green fruit...
— National Geographic, 5 May 2015
When HBO canceled Togetherness, the weird, uncomfortable, emotionally in-tune series from brothers Mark and Jay Duplass, after just two seasons, I was distraught. Just as “peak TV” means more and more quality shows to check out, so too does the churn of content, and the shifting nature of viewership, bring about the cancelations of shows that deserve more time to explore their creative visions.
— Kyle Fowle, Paste.com, 27 July 2017
We are now at peak app. It’s no longer a land grab of virgin territory, it’s a time where new apps most likely require the deletion of an incumbent.
— Tom Goodwin, Forbes.com, 8 July 2016
In case you missed it, we have arrived at Peak Officiating Complaint Time in the sport. Refs are overworked and missing calls. Coaches and fans and players (hi, Grayson Allen) are losing their minds.
— Pat Forde, Yahoo! Sports, 23 Feb. 2016
While the planet could theoretically run out of avocados and TV episodes (not so much apps or complaints to sports officials), this use strips peak of its attachment to finite resources. Now peak has become so popular as a way to express one's dismay with the oversaturation of any subject, from food trends to internet memes, in the mass media, that some commentators have even wondered in the use of peak itself has peaked:
After Australian researchers announced in April this year that the world had attained "peak beard", a resource not supposed to be finite, other peaks followed.
There were peak suburbs, peak hipsters, peak travel, peak narcissism and peak Beyoncé. There have been countless food peaks: banana, bacon, burgers, ramen, burrito and Freans (too many biscuits).
— Paula Cocozza, The Guardian, 27 Aug. 2014
Whether peak has really peaked,
or still has room for even greater popularity, remains to be seen.
After all, you don't know if you've reached the peak
of the mountain until you can't go any higher.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
'Pique' vs. 'Peak' vs. 'Peek'
Take a peek!
It'll be the peak of your day! (Have we piqued your interest yet?)
What to Know
Peek is sight related and often refers to looking quickly or through a small space.
A homophone, peak is a nounor verb
that refers to a maximum or high point figurativelyor literally,
as in the peak of a mountain or "peak performance."
Lastly, a third homophone pique,
means "to excite or arouse" and is usually used with "curiosity."
Peek, peak, and pique:
they sound the same but mean very different things.
'Peek' Meaning
The first one we learn is peek:
it has to do with looking,
especially furtively or quickly or through a small space.
Open the box and peek inside.
It's the word in peekaboo,
a game for amusing babies that we've been calling
by that name for more than four centuries.
(That word, unsurprisingly, comes from peek and the boo of both contempt and fright.)
Meanwhile peek itself has been a verb since the 14th century.
(The noun peek,as in "take a peek," is a 17th century development.)
Peek is also, somewhat unhelpfully, the word in the phrase sneak peek.
We say "unhelpfully" because the "ea" in the first
might make it hard to remember the "ee" in the second.
Our advice to you: keep in mind that you peek in order to see.
'Peak' Meaning
Peak is the verb you use to talk about reaching a maximum,
or coming to a highest point, literallyor figuratively:
The meteor shower will last for several days but will peak on Sunday.
Its noun counterpart (referring to various pointed or projecting parts)
is older and more common.
And just as every mountain has a peak,
thinking of the peak—the highest point
—is the way to remember that
peak is the verb for reaching the highest levels.
Associating the "a" in peak withthe "a" in maximum
or with a capital "A" (the most mountain-like of letters) can be helpful.
'Pique' Meaning
Pique is the oddball of this trio.
We know the "ique" spelling from the likesof technique, antique, and unique,
but pique nonetheless looks a little exotic.
It comes from a French word meaning literally "to prick,"
and when people were first piqued in English they were irritated and angry.
Pique can still be used (especially in British English)
to mean "to arouse anger or resentment in,"
as in "Their rudeness piqued me."
Now, however, it's most often our interest or curiosity that gets piqued
—that is to say, our interest or curiosity is aroused:
The large key hanging on the wall piqued my curiosity.
Pique has another meaning too,
though it's less common than either of those already mentioned.
Pique sometimes is used to mean "to take pride in (oneself),"
as in "She piques herself on her editing skills."
Master this trio, and you can pique yourself on your word skills.
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions
Summit & peak & top
Each of these words refers to
the highest point of something,
with top being the term in widest use
(the top of the hill, the top of the house).
Peak means a pointed extremity,
the pointed top of a hill or mountain
(peak of a roof, peak of a cap, peak of Mount Monadnock).
Summit is closed in meaning to peak,
“the highest point of an elevation of any kind”:
“The summit of the hill was covered with the wild flowers.”
Related words which also suggest the
figurative meaning of summit, peak, and top
include apex, pinnacle, zenith, elevation, height, climax, and acme.
Thus, one refers to a student at the top of his class
as one who has reached the summit of his goals.
When traffic is heaviest, it is at its peak.
Diplomats conduct talks at the summit.
