Etymograph

English

levitate

Levitate comes from New Latin levitō ‘to levitate’, and goes back to Latin levis.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElevis1
  2. New Latinc. 1500–1900levitō2‘to levitate’
  3. New Latinc. 1500–1900levitātus2perfect passive participle of levitō
  4. Englishtodaylevitate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin levito
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English levitate

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElevisWiktionary, Latin levito
  2. New Latinc. 1500–1900levitōWiktionary, English levitate‘to levitate’
  3. New Latinc. 1500–1900levitātusWiktionary, English levitateperfect passive participle of levitō
  4. EnglishtodaylevitateWiktionary, English levitate

first attested First attested in 1673 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1673; borrowed from New Latin levitātus, perfect passive participle of levitō (‘to levitate; to have one's motion directed upward, as opposed to the downward motion induced by gravity’) (first attested c. 1670), modeled on gravitō (‘to gravitate’) (← Latin gravis (‘heavy’)), from levis (‘light’), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin levis

leave, relevant, elevator, elevation, lever, oblivious, oblivion, allege, levant, alleviate, elevate, leger, levee, 27 more

Today it means

verb To cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “levitate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin levito. 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 / Latin levis / levitate

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