c.1400, "highest point, peak," from Middle French somete, from Old French somete "summit, top," diminutive of som, sum "highest part, top of a hill," from Latin summum, neuter of noun use of summus "highest," related to super "over" (see sum, n.). The meaning "meeting of heads of state" (1950) is from Winston Churchill's metaphor of "a parley at the summit."