Where does “Levant” come from?
Levant derives from French levant, the present participle of French lever meaning "to raise," from Latin levare "to lift," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₁lengʰ- meaning "to lighten."
Ancestry of “Levant”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | Levant | — |
| 2 | French | lever | To raise, lift; To rise, stand up; To get up |
| 3 | Middle French | lever | to lift |
| 4 | Old French | lever | to lift; to get up |
| 5 | Latin | levō | — |
| 6 | Latin | lēvis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | leɣʷis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁léngʰus | lightweight |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁lengʷʰ- | light |
Words derived from “Levant”