Etymologically
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elevator

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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