English
elation
Elation comes from Latin ēlātiō ‘exaltation, elevation’, from ēlātus ‘brought or carried out, forth or away, having…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéreti2‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferō2‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferō3‘carry, bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEefferō3‘bring forth or out’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlātus3‘brought or carried out, forth or away, having been carried away’perfect passive participle of efferō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlātiō3‘exaltation, elevation’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlātiōnem3accusative singular of ēlātiō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400elacion3
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500elacioun3
- Englishearliest quotation 2022elation3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin fero
- 3 Wiktionary, English elation
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2022, Emma Sanders, England 2-1 Germany: “She [Chloe Kelly] waited for confirmation of the goal…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéretiWiktionary, Latin fero‘to bear, carry’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ferōWiktionary, Latin fero‘to carry, bear’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEferōWiktionary, English elation‘carry, bear’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEefferōWiktionary, English elation‘bring forth or out’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlātusWiktionary, English elation‘brought or carried out, forth or away, having been carried away’perfect passive participle of efferō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlātiōWiktionary, English elation‘exaltation, elevation’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēlātiōnemWiktionary, English elationaccusative singular of ēlātiō
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400elacionWiktionary, English elation
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500elaciounWiktionary, English elation
- Englishearliest quotation 2022elationWiktionary, English elation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2022, Emma Sanders, England 2-1 Germany: “She [Chloe Kelly] waited for confirmation of the goal…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, prefer, broad, bread, fortune, burden, bearing, barn, barrel, bore, fury, breeze, bark, baron, berth, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, ferret, insufferable, bier, bahar, proffer, furtive, birr, barrette, bairn, burnish, 113 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to bear, carry’
bear, borne, phosphorus, euphoria, phosphate, dysphoria, semaphore, indifferently, phosphine, 91 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, differently, indifferent, infertility, differentiation, deference, infertile, differentially, deferential, differentiable, differentiator, 68 more
through Latin ferō ‘carry, bear’
different, offer, difference, reference, transfer, suffer, extraordinary, differ, referendum, referee, relative, translation, fertility, translate, relate, strangely, fertile, extravagant, frustration, defer, infer, confer, infra, frustrate, extraneous, strangeness, fertilization, fertilize, estrange, collate, dilate, ablation, oblate, ablative, collation, 79 more
through Latin efferō ‘bring forth or out’
through Latin ēlātus ‘brought or carried out, forth or away, having…’
Today it means
noun An exhilarating psychological state of pride and optimism.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “elation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti, Latin fero. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / elation