lever

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Lever

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
A lever
A lever diagram

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English lever, levore, levour, from Old French leveor, leveur (“a lifter, lever (also Old French and French levier)”), from Latin levātor (“a lifter”), from levō (“to raise”).

Noun[edit]

lever (plural levers)

  1. (mechanics) A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (the fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and motion.
    1. Specifically, a bar of metal, wood or other rigid substance, used to exert a pressure, or sustain a weight, at one point of its length, by receiving a force or power at a second, and turning at a third on a fixed point called a fulcrum. It is usually named as the first of the six mechanical powers, and is of three kinds, according as either the fulcrum F, the weight W, or the power P, respectively, is situated between the other two, as in the figures.
  2. A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a button).
  3. (mechanics) A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
    • 2012 March, Henry Petroski, “Opening Doors”, in American Scientist‎[1], volume 100, number 2, pages 112–3:
      A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place.
  4. (mechanics) An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.
  5. (obsolete, except in generalized senses below) A crowbar.
    • 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, IV.1:
      My lord, I brained him with a lever my neighbour lent me, and he stood by and cried, ‘Strike home, old boy!’
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb[edit]

lever (third-person singular simple present levers, present participle levering, simple past and past participle levered)

  1. (transitive) To move with a lever.
    With great effort and a big crowbar I managed to lever the beam off the floor.
    • 1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter VII, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:
      Someone found a pick and levered a burst plank out of the floor, and in a few minutes we had got a fire alight and our drenched clothes were steaming.
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To use, operate or move (something) like a lever (physically).
    • 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Vintage International, published 2001, Part Two, Chapter 1:
      Suddenly he had levered himself up from the sofa, rocking the lame man violently, and was walking towards the receptionist.
  3. (figuratively, transitive) To use (something) like a lever (in an abstract sense).
    • 2001 April 9, Joshua Cooper Ramo, “Bagging the Butcher”, in Time:
      He was a man who levered his way from small-time communist hack to political power by tapping into the most potent vein of historical juice in the Balkans: nationalism.
    • 2013 December 8, Robert McCrum, “Biographies of the year — review”, in The Guardian:
      Credited with pioneering the detective novel, Collins has attracted many biographers over the years, drawn to his extraordinary life and work in the hope of levering open a new understanding of the Victorian psyche.
  4. (chiefly UK, finance) To increase the share of debt in the capitalization of a business.
    • 1989 June 26, “Corporate America wants its privacy”, in Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
      "The equity holders want you to 'lever up,' use as much debt as you can," said David Stanley, chairman of Kansas City-based Payless Cashways,
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English lever, comparative of leve, leef (“dear, beloved, lief”), equivalent to lief +‎ -er. Related to German lieber (“rather”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Adverb[edit]

lever (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Rather.
Translations[edit]
rather — see rather

Etymology 3[edit]

Borrowed from French lever.

Noun[edit]

lever (plural levers)

  1. (rare) A levee.
    • 1742, Miss Robinson, Mrs. Delany's Letters, II.191:
      We do not appear at Phœbus's Levér.
    • 2011 September 21, Tim Blanning, “The reinvention of the night”, in Times Literary Supplement:
      Louis XIV’s day began with a lever at 9 and ended (officially) at around midnight.

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “lever”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “lever”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  3. ^ “lever”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia da

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Danish liuær, from Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *librō, cognate with English liver and German Leber. The Germanic word may be an irregular remodelling of the Proto-Indo-European word for "liver", *yókʷr̥, cf. Ancient Greek ἧπαρ (hêpar) and Latin iecur.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

lever c (singular definite leveren, plural indefinite levere)

  1. liver
Inflection[edit]
Declension of lever
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative lever leveren levere leverne
genitive levers leverens leveres levernes

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈleːʋɐ], [ˈleːwɐ]

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. present of leve

Etymology 3[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

lever or levér

  1. imperative of levere

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Dutch lēvere, from Old Dutch *levara, from Proto-West Germanic *libru, from Proto-Germanic *librō.

Noun[edit]

lever f (plural levers, diminutive levertje n)

  1. liver
  2. edible animal liver as a dish or culinary ingredient
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • Afrikaans: lewer
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: lefre
  • Negerhollands: leber
  • → Aukan: lebii
  • → Indonesian: lever
  • → Saramaccan: lebèn
  • → Sranan Tongo: lefre
    • → Caribbean Javanese: léfer

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. inflection of leveren:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Middle French lever, from Old French lever, from Latin levāre (“to elevate”), from levis (“light, not heavy”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. (transitive) to raise, lift
    Antonym: baisser
  2. (reflexive) to rise, stand up
    Antonym: s’abaisser
  3. (reflexive) (of celestial bodies) To rise, come up
    Antonym: se coucher
    Le Soleil se lève à l’est et se couche à l’ouest. ― The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
  4. (reflexive) to get up (out of bed)
    Antonyms: se coucher, s’allonger
    Je me lève, je me lave. ― I get up, I wash.
  5. (reflexive, of fog, rain and etc) to clear, lift

Conjugation[edit]

This verb is conjugated like parler, except the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-, as in the third-person singular present indicative il lève and the third-person singular future indicative il lèvera.

Conjugation of lever (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple lever
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple levant
/lə.vɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle levé
/lə.ve/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present lève
/lɛv/ 		lèves
/lɛv/ 		lève
/lɛv/ 		levons
/lə.vɔ̃/ 		levez
/lə.ve/ 		lèvent
/lɛv/
imperfect levais
/lə.vɛ/ 		levais
/lə.vɛ/ 		levait
/lə.vɛ/ 		levions
/lə.vjɔ̃/ 		leviez
/lə.vje/ 		levaient
/lə.vɛ/
past historic2 levai
/lə.ve/ 		levas
/lə.va/ 		leva
/lə.va/ 		levâmes
/lə.vam/ 		levâtes
/lə.vat/ 		levèrent
/lə.vɛʁ/
future lèverai
/lɛ.vʁe/ or /le.vʁe/ 		lèveras
/lɛ.vʁa/ or /le.vʁa/ 		lèvera
/lɛ.vʁa/ or /le.vʁa/ 		lèverons
/lɛ.vʁɔ̃/ or /le.vʁɔ̃/ 		lèverez
/lɛ.vʁe/ or /le.vʁe/ 		lèveront
/lɛ.vʁɔ̃/ or /le.vʁɔ̃/
conditional lèverais
/lɛ.vʁɛ/ or /le.vʁɛ/ 		lèverais
/lɛ.vʁɛ/ or /le.vʁɛ/ 		lèverait
/lɛ.vʁɛ/ or /le.vʁɛ/ 		lèverions
/lɛ.və.ʁjɔ̃/ or /le.və.ʁjɔ̃/ 		lèveriez
/lɛ.və.ʁje/ or /le.və.ʁje/ 		lèveraient
/lɛ.vʁɛ/ or /le.vʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present lève
/lɛv/ 		lèves
/lɛv/ 		lève
/lɛv/ 		levions
/lə.vjɔ̃/ 		leviez
/lə.vje/ 		lèvent
/lɛv/
imperfect2 levasse
/lə.vas/ 		levasses
/lə.vas/ 		levât
/lə.va/ 		levassions
/lə.va.sjɔ̃/ 		levassiez
/lə.va.sje/ 		levassent
/lə.vas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — lève
/lɛv/ 		— levons
/lə.vɔ̃/ 		levez
/lə.ve/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

lever m (plural levers)

  1. the act of getting up in the morning

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Hungarian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

le- +‎ ver

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛvɛr]
  • Hyphenation: le‧ver
  • Rhymes: -ɛr

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. (transitive) to knock down

Conjugation[edit]

conjugation of lever
1st person sg 2nd person sg
informal 		3rd person sg,
2nd p. sg formal 		1st person pl 2nd person pl
informal 		3rd person pl,
2nd p. pl formal
Indica­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. leverek leversz lever leverünk levertek levernek
Def. leverem levered leveri leverjük leveritek leverik
2nd-p. o. leverlek ―
Past Indef. levertem levertél levert levertünk levertetek levertek
Def. levertem leverted leverte levertük levertétek leverték
2nd-p. o. levertelek ―
Condi­tional
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. levernék levernél leverne levernénk levernétek levernének
Def. leverném levernéd leverné levernénk
(or levernők) 		levernétek levernék
2nd-p. o. levernélek ―
Sub­junc­tive
mood 		Pre­sent Indef. leverjek leverj or
leverjél 		leverjen leverjünk leverjetek leverjenek
Def. leverjem leverd or
leverjed 		leverje leverjük leverjétek leverjék
2nd-p. o. leverjelek ―
Infinitive leverni levernem leverned levernie levernünk levernetek leverniük
Other nonfinite
verb forms 		Verbal noun Present participle Past participle Future part. Adverbial part. Potential
leverés leverő levert leverendő leverve leverhet

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • lever in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Indonesian[edit]

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch lever (“liver”), from Middle Dutch lēvere, from Old Dutch *levara, from Proto-Germanic *librō. Doublet of liver.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɛvər]
  • Hyphenation: lè‧vêr

Noun[edit]

lèvêr (first-person possessive leverku, second-person possessive levermu, third-person possessive levernya)

  1. liver.
    Synonym: hati

Alternative forms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Latin[edit]

Verb[edit]

lēver

  1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of lēvō

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Comparative of leve (“dear”) of Germanic origin (compare German lieb) or lief.

Adverb[edit]

lever

  1. Rather.
    For him was lever have at his bed's head
    Twenty bookes, clad in black or red,
    . . . Than robes rich, or fithel, or gay sawtrie.     —The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
    But lever than this worldés good
    She would have wist how that it stood     —Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins, John Gower.

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

lever

  1. Alternative form of lyvere (“liver”)

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

lever

  1. Alternative form of lyvere (“living being”)

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French lever.

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. to lift

Conjugation[edit]

  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of lever
infinitive simple lever
compound avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2 simple levant
compound present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle levé
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (i’) tu il, elle nous vous ilz, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present leve leves leve levons levez levent
imperfect levois, levoys levois, levoys levoit, levoyt levions, levyons leviez, levyez levoient, levoyent
past historic leva levas leva levasmes levastes leverent
future leverai, leveray leveras levera leverons leverez leveront
conditional leverois, leveroys leverois, leveroys leveroit, leveroyt leverions, leveryons leveriez, leveryez leveroient, leveroyent
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que ie (i’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present leve leves leve levons levez levent
imperfect levasse levasses levast levassions levassiez levassent
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — leve — levons levez —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (lever, supplement)

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Pronunciation[edit]

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”).

Noun[edit]

lever m or f (definite singular leveren or levra, indefinite plural levere or levre or levrer, definite plural leverne or levrene)

  1. (anatomy) a liver
  2. liver (eaten as food)
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. present tense of leve
  2. imperative of levere

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”). Akin to English liver.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

lever f (definite singular levra, indefinite plural levrar or levrer, definite plural levrane or levrene)

  1. (anatomy) a liver
  2. liver (eaten as food)
Alternative forms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. present of leve

Further reading[edit]

Old French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin lēvāre, present active infinitive of lēvō.

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. to lift (up)
  2. (reflexive, se lever) to get up (get out of bed)

Conjugation[edit]

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-v, *-vs, *-vt are modified to f, s, t. This verb has a stressed present stem liev distinct from the unstressed stem lev. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of lever (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive lever avoir levé
gerund en levant Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle levant
past participle levé
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative jo tu il nos vos il
simple
tenses 		present lief lieves lieve levons levez lievent
imperfect levoie, leveie, levoe, leveve levoies, leveies, levoes, leveves levoit, leveit, levot, leveve leviiens, leviens leviiez, leviez levoient, leveient, levoent, levevent
preterite levai levas leva levames levastes leverent
future leverai leveras levera leverons leveroiz, levereiz, leverez leveront
conditional leveroie, levereie leveroies, levereies leveroit, levereit leveriiens, leveriens leveriiez, leveriez leveroient, levereient
compound
tenses 		present perfect Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
past anterior Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle
future perfect Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
conditional perfect Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive que jo que tu qu’il que nos que vos qu’il
simple
tenses 		present lief lies liet levons levez lievent
imperfect levasse levasses levast levissons, levissiens levissoiz, levissez, levissiez levassent
compound
tenses 		past Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative – tu – nos vos –
— lieve — levons levez —

Descendants[edit]

Old Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse hleifr, from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz.

Noun[edit]

lēver m

  1. loaf, bread

Declension[edit]

  Declension of lever (strong a-stem)
masculine singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative lēver lēvrin lēvar lēvanir, lēvaner
accusative lēv lēvin lēva lēvana
dative lēvi, lēve lēvinum, lēvenom lēvum, lēvom lēvumin, lēvomen
genitive lēvs lēvsins lēva lēvanna

Descendants[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”).

Noun[edit]

lever c

  1. (anatomy) a liver
Declension[edit]
Declension of lever 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative lever levern levrar levrarna
Genitive levers leverns levrars levrarnas
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
  • levra (“clot, coagulate”)

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

lever

  1. present indicative of leva

References[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=lever&oldid=76860851"