summa — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A comprehensive summary of, or treatise on a subject, especially theology or philosophy.

2. A culmination or archetypal example.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Examples

   In size, scope, and graphic ambition [the map] is a summa of the mapping art of the day, represented in paint by Vermeer.

   The painting is a “summa” of the various trends that intertwined and developed during those crucial years of the early sixteenth century in Florence.

   More examples (1)

   Rockefeller Center is at once a summa of the Art Deco style, and a look ahead to the Internationalist style that dominated after World War II.