elevate
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin elevatus, past participle of elevare (“to raise, lift up”), from e (“out”) + levare (“to make light, to lift”), from levis (“light”); see levity and lever.
Pronunciation
Verb
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- (transitive) To raise (something) to a higher position.
- Synonyms: lift, raise
- Antonyms: drop, lower
- The doctor told me elevating my legs would help reduce the swelling.
- 1534, William Marshall and George Joye, A Prymer in Englyshe, London: William Marshall,[1]
- c. 1610 William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, Act V, Scene 2,[2]
- She had one eye declined for the loss of her husband, another elevated that the oracle was fulfilled:
- 1750, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 25, 12 June, 1750, Volume 1, London: J. Payne and J. Bouquet, 1752, p. 216,[3]
- We know that a few strokes of the axe will lop a cedar; but what arts of cultivation can elevate a shrub?
- 1896, Joseph Conrad, An Outcast of the Islands, London: T. Fisher Unwin, Part 2, Chapter 5, p. 138,[4]
- Abdulla expressed his surprise by elevating his eyebrows.
- (transitive) To promote (someone) to a higher rank.
- 1682, Aphra Behn, The Roundheads or, The Good Old Cause, London: D. Brown et al., Act I, Scene 1, p. 6,[5]
- Hard Fate of Greatness, We so highly Elevated
- Are more expos’d to Censure than the little ones,
- 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, London: J. Johnson, Part 1, Chapter 1, p. 24,[6]
- Nothing can set the regal character in a more contemptible point of view, than the various crimes that have elevated men to the supreme dignity.
- 1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22, New York: Dell, Chapter 29, p. 334,[7]
- […] that’s the way things go when you elevate mediocre people to positions of authority.
- 2014, A. D. Wright, The Early Modern Papacy
- Much has also been made recently of the distorting effects exerted on the administration of Urban VIII by the interests of the Barberini nephews, especially of the two elevated to cardinal status.
- 2014, Guy W. Lecky-Thompson, Inside SharePoint 2007 Administration (page 55)
- At that point, you have to elevate the account's rights, activate the feature, and then demote the account again.
- 1682, Aphra Behn, The Roundheads or, The Good Old Cause, London: D. Brown et al., Act I, Scene 1, p. 6,[5]
- (transitive) To confer honor or nobility on (someone).
- 1591, Edmund Spenser, “Virgils Gnat” in Complaints, London: William Ponsonbie,[8]
- That none, whom fortune freely doth aduaunce,
- Himselfe therefore to heauen should eleuate:
- For loftie type of honour through the glaunce
- Of enuies dart, is downe in dust prostrate;
- 1591, Edmund Spenser, “Virgils Gnat” in Complaints, London: William Ponsonbie,[8]
- (transitive) To make (something or someone) more worthy or of greater value.
- A talented chef can elevate everyday ingredients into gourmet delights.
- 1682, John Dryden, The Medal, Edinburgh, “Epistle to the Whigs,”[9]
- […] if you encourage a young Beginner, who knows but he may elevate his stile a little,
- 1768, William Gilpin, An Essay upon Prints, London: J. Robson, Chapter 1, p. 33,[10]
- He is the true artist, who copies nature; but, where he finds her mean, elevates her from his own ideas of beauty.
- 1850, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, Volume 2, Chapter 4, p. 60,[11]
- You can’t think how it elevates him in my opinion, to know for certain that he’s really conscientious!
- (transitive) To direct (the mind, thoughts, etc.) toward more worthy things.
- 1665, Robert Boyle, Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects, London: Henry Herringman, Section 4, Chapter 4, pp. 73-74,[12]
- […] the devout Christian improves the Blessings he receives of this inferiour World, to elevate his mind above it:
- 1999, Ahdaf Soueif, The Map of Love, New York: Anchor Books, 2000, Chapter 18,[13]
- On the whole I would regard serious art as a means to elevate the emotions and educate the spirit […]
- 1665, Robert Boyle, Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects, London: Henry Herringman, Section 4, Chapter 4, pp. 73-74,[12]
- (transitive) To increase the intensity or degree of (something).
- Synonyms: increase, raise
- Antonyms: decrease, diminish, lower, reduce
- Some drugs have the side effect of elevating your blood sugar level.
- (dated) To increase the loudness of (a sound, especially one's voice).
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, London: A. Millar, Volume 5, Book 14, Chapter 10, p. 191,[14]
- […] the Uncle had more than once elevated his Voice, so as to be heard down Stairs;
- 1904, Jack London, The Sea-Wolf, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Chapter 3, p. 20,[15]
- “We’ll see to that,” Wolf Larsen answered, and elevated his voice in a call of “Cooky!”
- 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, London: A. Millar, Volume 5, Book 14, Chapter 10, p. 191,[14]
- (transitive, obsolete) To lift the spirits of (someone)
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 8, lines 633-634,[16]
- […] Hope elevates, and joy
- Bright’ns his Crest,
- 1759, Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Edinburgh: A. Kincaid and J. Bell, Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 1, p. 20,[17]
- It gives us the spleen […] to see another too happy or too much elevated, as we call it, with any little piece of good fortune.
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 8, lines 633-634,[16]
- (dated, colloquial, humorous) To intoxicate in a slight degree; to make (someone) tipsy.
- 1755, George Colman and Bonnell Thornton, The Connoisseur, No. 91, 23 October, 1755, Volume 2, London: R. Baldwin, 1756, p. 557,[18]
- 1791, James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, Volume 2, 1778,[19]
- [Johnson,] from drinking only water, supposed every body who drank wine to be elevated
- 1822, Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak, Edinburgh: Archibald, Constable, Volume 1, Chapter 3, p. 92,[20]
- […] the elevated Cavaliers […] sent to Roger Raine of the Peveril Arms […] for two tubs of merry stingo
- (obsolete, Latinism) To attempt to make (something) seem less important, remarkable, etc.
- 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, London: Richard Royston, Volume 1, Chapter 4, Rule 2, p. 126,[21]
- […] the Arabian Physicians […] endevour to elevate and lessen the thing [i.e. belief in the virgin birth of Jesus], by saying, It is not wholly beyond the force of nature, that a Virgin should conceive […]
- 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, London: Richard Royston, Volume 1, Chapter 4, Rule 2, p. 126,[21]
Related terms
Translations
raise
|
promote — see promote
ennoble — see ennoble
elate
|
increase the intensity of
Adjective
elevate (comparative more elevate, superlative most elevate)
- (obsolete) Elevated; raised aloft.
- 1548, Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke, London: Richard Grafton, Henry VII, year 6,[22]
- The sayde crosse was .iii. tymes deuoutly eleuate, and at euery exaltacion, ye Moores beyng within the cytie, roared, howled and cryed,
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 2, lines 567-578,[23]
- Others apart sat on a Hill retir’d,
- In thoughts more elevate,
- 1548, Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke, London: Richard Grafton, Henry VII, year 6,[22]
Further reading
- “elevate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “elevate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Italian
Verb
elevate
- second-person plural present indicative of elevare
- second-person plural imperative of elevare
- feminine plural of elevato
Latin
Verb
(deprecated template usage) ēlevāte
Categories:
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English dated terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English colloquialisms
- English humorous terms
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian verb forms
- Italian past participle forms
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin verb forms