elevate
/ˈɛləveɪt/ verb, adjective
Forms elevates elevating elevated
- verb (transitive) To raise (something) to a higher position. “The doctor told me elevating my legs would help reduce the swelling.”
- verb (transitive) To promote (someone) to a higher rank.
- verb (computing) To temporarily grant a program additional security privileges to the system to perform a privileged action (usually on the program's request). “Did you forget that all programs that modify the registry need to be elevated?”
- verb (transitive) To confer honor or nobility on (someone). “The traditional worldview elevates man as the pinnacle of creation.”
- verb (transitive) To make (something or someone) more worthy or of greater value. “A talented chef can elevate everyday ingredients into gourmet delights.”
- verb (transitive) To direct (the mind, thoughts, etc.) toward more worthy things.
- verb (transitive) To increase the intensity or degree of (something). “Some drugs have the side effect of elevating your blood sugar level.”
- verb (dated) To increase the loudness of (a sound, especially one's voice).
- adjective (obsolete) Elevated, raised aloft.
Synonyms
lift raise exalt promote advance aggrandize dignify ennoble honor nobilitate prefer uplift increase accelerate accrue augment embiggen enhance enlarge greaten upgrade kick upstairs get up bring up
Antonyms
drop lower demote abase bring down to size cut down to size debase defame degrade demean depress discredit
Etymology
From Middle English elevaten (“to raise up, erect; to elate, inflate (e.g. with pride); (alchemy) to vaporize; (of a bone, excressence, blood vessel) to protrude”), from elevat(e) (“(in physical elevation, in rank, in altitude above the horizon) high”, also used as the past participle of elevaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), further from Latin ēlevātus, the perfect passive participle of ēlevō (“to raise, lift up”), from ē- (“out”) + levō (“to make light, to lift”), from levis (“light”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); see levity and lever.
From Middle English elevat(e) (“(in physical elevation, in rank, in altitude above the horizon) high”, also used as the past participle of elevaten), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Cognate with French élevé.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Elevated; raised aloft. [Poetic] Milton.
- verb To bring from a lower place to a higher; to lift up; to raise; as, to elevate a weight, a flagstaff, etc.
- verb To raise to a higher station; to promote; as, to elevate to an office, or to a high social position.
Etymology [L. elevatus, p. p.]
Etymology [L. elevatus, p. p. of elevare; e + levare to lift up, raise, akin to levis light in weight. See Levity.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “elevate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details