Arete (Greek: ἀρετή; in English) in its basic sense means "goodness", "excellence" or "virtue" of any kind. In its earliest appearance in Greek this notion of excellence was bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function; the act of living up to one's full potential. "The root of the word is the same as 'aristos', the word which shows superlative ability and superiority, and 'aristos' was constantly used in the plural to denote the nobilit… (More on Arete)