elevate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English elevaten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin ēlevātus (“raised”),^[5][6][7][8] the past participle of ēlevō (“to lift up, raise; to lighten, alleviate”),^[6][7][8] formed from ē- (“out”), a variant of ex-, and levō (“to lighten, raise”),^[7][5][3] from levis (“light (in weight)”),^{[5][6][9][10]} from Proto-Indo-European *legwh- (“not heavy, having little weight”).^[6][3] In Middle English the verb grew out of the older participle and adjective elevat, raised, recorded in Chaucer's “Treatise on the Astrolabe” (1391).^[7][2][5] The same Latin adjective is the source of levity and alleviate.^[10][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As the participle elevat, raised above the horizon, of a heavenly body: about 1400, in a copy of Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe (written 1391).^[5][7][11] Barnhart dates the verb elevaten, to elate or puff up with pride, to before 1410, and the sense "to raise, lift up" to probably before 1425;^[7] the MED quotes both senses.^[2] The OED's first record of the modern verb, to raise above the usual position, is from 1497.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Because the Latin verb meant both to lift and to lighten, elevate at first had both senses in English.^[5][12] From 1541 to 1788 it could mean to lighten or lessen, and so to belittle or make light of something,^[5] and Trench notes that writers trained in Latin, such as Philemon Holland in his Livy, mostly used it in this sense of taking importance away from a thing, where later English uses it only of setting something higher.^[12] The sense of raising in rank or status dates from about 1500 (1509 in the OED),^[6][5] and the moral or intellectual sense, to raise the mind or character, from the 1620s.^[6][5] Gunners spoke of elevating a gun from 1692,^[5] and the verb was used from 1637 of lifting up the Host at Mass.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as to raise aloft, to exalt or dignify, and to raise the mind.^[13] In slang the participle elevated meant drunk,^[6] American poker players used elevate for raising an opponent (1883), and in underworld slang it meant to rob at gunpoint (1928), a pun on hold up.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1400 (written 1391) – participle elevat, raised above the horizon, in Chaucer.^[5][7]
• before 1410 – verb, to elate with pride.^[7]
• 1497 – to raise above the usual position.^[5]
• 1509 – to raise in rank or status.^[5]
• 1541 – to lighten, lessen, belittle (obsolete by 1788).^[5]
• 1618 – to raise the voice.^[5]
• 1624 – to raise in a moral or intellectual sense.^[5]
• 1637 – to lift up the Host at Mass.^[5]
• 1692 – in gunnery, to raise the axis of a gun.^[5]
• 1883 – in poker slang, to raise an opponent.^[14]
• 1928 – in underworld slang, to rob at gunpoint.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lift or move to a higher place or position; to raise: The patient's leg was elevated on a cushion.^[15][4][5]
2. To raise in rank or status; to promote.^[15][5]
3. To raise to a higher moral, intellectual or cultural level; to uplift: Good music can elevate the mind.^[15][5]
4. To raise the level or degree of something, such as a temperature.^[4]
5. To put in high spirits; to elate.^[15][7]
6. To raise the pitch or loudness of the voice.^[15][5]
7. To raise the axis of a gun so as to aim it higher.^[15][5]
8. In the Roman Catholic Church, to lift up the Host at Mass for adoration.^[15][4][5]
9. (obsolete, 1541–1788) To lighten or lessen; to belittle or make light of.^[5][12]

Word family

• superelevate

Related words

• elevation
• elevator
• lever
• levity
• alleviate
• relieve
• leaven
• light

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
12. ^ a b c Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins