elevator

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈel.ɪ.veɪ.tə/, US /ˈel.ɪ.veɪ.t̬ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēlevātor (“one who raises up”), in Modern Latin a muscle that raises a part of the body,^[2][3] an agent noun from the past participle stem of ēlevō (“to raise”) (see elevate),^[2][3] and later uses come directly from the English verb.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A muscle that raises or moves a limb or organ: 1646 in the OED and Merriam-Webster, the 1640s in Etymonline.^[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

A mechanical lift, at first for grain, is from 1787, chiefly in North America.^[2][4] A part of an insect's feelers was an elevator from 1826.^[4] Shoe lifts were elevators from 1940,^[2] and elevator music, bland background music, is attested by 1963.^[2] In Britain the lift for people is usually called a lift.^[6]

Timeline

• 1646 – a raising muscle.^[4][5]
• 1787 – a mechanical lift.^[2][4]
• 1826 – part of an insect's feelers.^[4]
• 1940 – elevator shoes.^[2]
• 1963 – elevator music.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (chiefly US, Canada) A platform or compartment raised and lowered in a vertical shaft to carry people or goods; a lift.
2. (chiefly US) A hoist for raising grain or coal, often a chain of scoops on a conveyor belt.
3. A movable control surface of an aircraft.
4. (anatomy) A muscle that raises a part of the body.
5. A person or thing that elevates.

Word family

• elevon
• elevator music
• elevator shoe
• grain elevator

Related words

• elevate
• elevation
• lever
• levity

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins