Where does “lever” come from?
Lever comes from French lever, from Latin levare meaning to lift, derived from Latin levis meaning light, which traces to Proto-Indo-European lewh₃-.
lever (English): A crowbar; A rigid piece which is capable of...
Definitions
- A crowbar; A rigid piece which is capable of...
Ancestry of “lever”, step by step
lever traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via French lever
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | lever | To raise, lift; To rise, stand up; To get up |
| 2 | Middle French | lever | to lift |
| 3 | Old French | lever | to lift; to get up |
| 4 | Latin | levō | to raise, elevate, lift up |
| 5 | Latin | lēvis | light, not heavy |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | leɣʷis | light |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁léngʰus | lightweight |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁lengʷʰ- | light |
via Middle English lever
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | lever | Rather |
| 2 | Old French | leveor | — |
| 3 | Latin | levator | second-person singular future passive imperative... |
| 4 | Latin | -tor | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | -tōr | Forms agent nouns to verb stems |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -tōr | Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tor-s | — |