elevate vs lift what difference

what is difference between elevate and lift

English

Etymology

From Latin elevatus, past participle of elevare (“to raise, lift up”), from e (“out”) + levare (“to make light, to lift”), from levis (“light”); see levity and lever.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛləveɪt/

Verb

elevate (third-person singular simple present elevates, present participle elevating, simple past and past participle elevated)

1. (transitive) To raise (something) to a higher position.

   Synonyms: lift, raise

   Antonyms: drop, lower

   • 1534, William Marshall and George Joye, A Prymer in Englyshe, London: William Marshall,^[1]

     The Grace or Blessynge of the table to be sayed of chyldren standynge before it, thyr handes eleuated and ioyned to gyder

   • c. 1610, William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, Act V, Scene 2,^[2]

     She had one eye declined for the loss of her husband, another elevated that the oracle was fulfilled:

   • 1750, Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 25, 12 June, 1750, Volume 1, London: J. Payne and J. Bouquet, 1752, p. 216,^[3]

     We know that a few strokes of the axe will lop a cedar; but what arts of cultivation can elevate a shrub?

   • 1896, Joseph Conrad, An Outcast of the Islands, London: T. Fisher Unwin, Part 2, Chapter 5, p. 138,^[4]

     Abdulla expressed his surprise by elevating his eyebrows.

2. (transitive) To promote (someone) to a higher rank.

   Synonyms: exalt, promote

   Antonym: demote

   • 1682, Aphra Behn, The Roundheads or, The Good Old Cause, London: D. Brown et al., Act I, Scene 1, p. 6,^[5]

     Hard Fate of Greatness, We so highly Elevated

     Are more expos’d to Censure than the little ones,

   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, London: J. Johnson, Part 1, Chapter 1, p. 24,^[6]

     Nothing can set the regal character in a more contemptible point of view, than the various crimes that have elevated men to the supreme dignity.

   • 1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22, New York: Dell, Chapter 29, p. 334,^[7]

     […] that’s the way things go when you elevate mediocre people to positions of authority.

   • 2014, A. D. Wright, The Early Modern Papacy

     Much has also been made recently of the distorting effects exerted on the administration of Urban VIII by the interests of the Barberini nephews, especially of the two elevated to cardinal status.

   • 2014, Guy W. Lecky-Thompson, Inside SharePoint 2007 Administration (page 55)

     At that point, you have to elevate the account’s rights, activate the feature, and then demote the account again.

3. (transitive) To confer honor or nobility on (someone).

   Synonyms: ennoble, exalt, honor

   • 1591, Edmund Spenser, “Virgils Gnat” in Complaints, London: William Ponsonbie,^[8]

     That none, whom fortune freely doth aduaunce,

     Himselfe therefore to heauen should eleuate:

     For loftie type of honour through the glaunce

     Of enuies dart, is downe in dust prostrate;

4. (transitive) To make (something or someone) more worthy or of greater value.
   • 1682, John Dryden, The Medal, Edinburgh, “Epistle to the Whigs,”^[9]

     […] if you encourage a young Beginner, who knows but he may elevate his stile a little,

   • 1768, William Gilpin, An Essay upon Prints, London: J. Robson, Chapter 1, p. 33,^[10]

     He is the true artist, who copies nature; but, where he finds her mean, elevates her from his own ideas of beauty.

   • 1850, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, Volume 2, Chapter 4, p. 60,^[11]

     You can’t think how it elevates him in my opinion, to know for certain that he’s really conscientious!

5. (transitive) To direct (the mind, thoughts, etc.) toward more worthy things.
   • 1665, Robert Boyle, Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects, London: Henry Herringman, Section 4, Chapter 4, pp. 73-74,^[12]

     […] the devout Christian improves the Blessings he receives of this inferiour World, to elevate his mind above it:

   • 1999, Ahdaf Soueif, The Map of Love, New York: Anchor Books, 2000, Chapter 18,^[13]

     On the whole I would regard serious art as a means to elevate the emotions and educate the spirit […]

6. (transitive) To increase the intensity or degree of (something).

   Synonyms: increase, raise

   Antonyms: decrease, diminish, lower, reduce

   1. (dated) To increase the loudness of (a sound, especially one’s voice).
      • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, London: A. Millar, Volume 5, Book 14, Chapter 10, p. 191,^[14]

        […] the Uncle had more than once elevated his Voice, so as to be heard down Stairs;
7. (transitive, obsolete) To lift the spirits of (someone)

   Synonyms: cheer up, elate

   Antonyms: depress, sadden

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 8, lines 633-634,^[15]

     […] Hope elevates, and joy

     Bright’ns his Crest,

   • 1759, Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Edinburgh: A. Kincaid and J. Bell, Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 1, p. 20,^[16]

     It gives us the spleen […] to see another too happy or too much elevated, as we call it, with any little piece of good fortune.

8. (dated, colloquial, humorous) To intoxicate in a slight degree; to make (someone) tipsy.
   • 1755, George Colman and Bonnell Thornton, The Connoisseur, No. 91, 23 October, 1755, Volume 2, London: R. Baldwin, 1756, p. 557,^[17]

     Steele entertained them till he was tipsy; when the same wine that stupified him, only served to elevate Addison, who took up the ball just as Steele dropt it, and kept it up for the rest of the evening.

   • 1791, James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, Volume 2, 1778,^[18]

     [Johnson,] from drinking only water, supposed every body who drank wine to be elevated

   • 1822, Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak, Edinburgh: Archibald, Constable, Volume 1, Chapter 3, p. 92,^[19]

     […] the elevated Cavaliers […] sent to Roger Raine of the Peveril Arms […] for two tubs of merry stingo

9. (obsolete, Latinism) To attempt to make (something) seem less important, remarkable, etc.

   Synonyms: lessen, detract, disparage

   • 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium, London: Richard Royston, Volume 1, Chapter 4, Rule 2, p. 126,^[20]

     […] the Arabian Physicians […] endevour to elevate and lessen the thing [i.e. belief in the virgin birth of Jesus], by saying, It is not wholly beyond the force of nature, that a Virgin should conceive […]

Related terms

• elevatable
• elevation
• elevator
• elevatory

Translations

Adjective

elevate (comparative more elevate, superlative most elevate)

1. (obsolete) Elevated; raised aloft.
   • 1548, Edward Hall, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke, London: Richard Grafton, Henry VII, year 6,^[21]

     The sayde crosse was .iii. tymes deuoutly eleuate, and at euery exaltacion, ye Moores beyng within the cytie, roared, howled and cryed,

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 2, lines 567-578,^[22]

     Others apart sat on a Hill retir’d,

     In thoughts more elevate,

Further reading

• elevate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• elevate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Italian

Verb

elevate

1. inflection of elevare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative
2. feminine plural of elevato

Latin

Verb

ēlevāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of ēlevō

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: lĭft, IPA^(key): /lɪft/
• Rhymes: -ɪft

Etymology 1

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense “a mechanical device for vertical transport”.

(To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic ???????????????????????????? (hliftus) “thief”, cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō))

Verb

lift (third-person singular simple present lifts, present participle lifting, simple past lifted or (rare, regional, obsolete) lift, past participle lifted or (rare, regional, obsolete) lift or (obsolete) yleft)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To raise or rise.
   • c1490, Of Penance and Confession be master Jhon Yrlandː

     Liftand (lifting) thy hands and thy eyen to Heaven.

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     Their walk had continued not more than ten minutes when they crossed a creek by a wooden bridge and came to a row of mean houses standing flush with the street. At the door of one, an old black woman had stooped to lift a large basket, piled high with laundered clothes.
2. (transitive, slang) To steal.
   • 1919, Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West

     Kamal is out with twenty men to raise the Border side,
     And he has lifted the Colonel’s mare that is the Colonel’s pride.
3. (transitive, slang) To source directly without acknowledgement; to plagiarise.
4. (transitive, slang) To arrest (a person).
   • 2000, Marie Smyth, Marie-Therese Fay, Personal Accounts From Northern Ireland’s Troubles

     Maybe the police lifted him and he’s in Castlereagh [Interrogation Centre] because he’d been lifted three or four times previously and took to Castlereagh. They used to come in and raid the house and take him away.

5. (transitive) To remove (a ban, restriction, etc.).
6. (transitive) To alleviate, to lighten (pressure, tension, stress, etc.)
7. (transitive) to cause to move upwards.
8. (informal, intransitive) To lift weights; to weight-lift.

9. To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.

   • strained by lifting at a weight too heavy

10. To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.; often with up.

    • The Roman virtues lift up mortal man.

    • being lifted up with pride

11. (obsolete) To bear; to support.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

12. To collect, as moneys due; to raise.
13. (programming) To transform (a function) into a corresponding function in a different context.
14. (finance) To buy a security or other asset previously offered for sale.
15. (hunting, transitive) To take (hounds) off the existing scent and move them to another spot.
    • 1885, Lina Chaworth Musters, Book of Hunting Songs and Sport (page 144)

      I lifted the hounds (hoping to catch the leading ones there) to the far side of Hallaton Thorns.

Usage notes

Lift also has an obsolete form liftand for the present participle. The strong forms were common until the 17th century in writing and still survive in speech in a few rural dialects.

Hyponyms

• airlift

Derived terms

• airlifted
• lift-off
• lifting

Translations

References

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Noun

lift (countable and uncountable, plural lifts)

1. An act of lifting or raising.
2. The act of transporting someone in a vehicle; a ride; a trip.

   He gave me a lift to the bus station.

3. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building; an elevator.

4. An upward force, such as the force that keeps aircraft aloft.
5. (measurement) The difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway, separated by lock.
6. (historical slang) A thief.
   • 1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society 2006, page 32:

     The lift came into the shop dressed like a country gentleman, but was careful not to have a cloak about him, so that the tradesman could see he had no opportunity to conceal any goods about his person.

7. (dance) The lifting of a dance partner into the air.
8. Permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically.
9. An improvement in mood.
   • November 17 2012, BBC Sport: Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham [4]

     The dismissal of a player who left Arsenal for Manchester City before joining Tottenham gave the home players and fans a noticeable lift.

10. The amount or weight to be lifted.

11. The space or distance through which anything is lifted.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

12. A rise; a degree of elevation.

13. A liftgate.
14. (nautical) A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below, and used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.
15. (engineering) One of the steps of a cone pulley.
16. (shoemaking) A layer of leather in the heel of a shoe.
17. (horology) That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Saunier to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (mechanical device) elevator (US)
• (act of transporting) ride
• (upward force) uplift

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• escalator

Etymology 2

From Middle English lifte, luft, lefte (“air, sky, heaven”), from Old English lyft (“atmosphere, air”), from Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“roof, sky, air”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”).

Cognate with Old High German luft (“air”) (German Luft), Dutch lucht (“air”), Old Norse lopt, loft (“upper room, sky, air”). More at loft.

Noun

lift (usually uncountable, plural lifts)

1. (Britain dialectal, chiefly Scotland) Air.
2. (Britain dialectal, chiefly Scotland) The sky; the heavens; firmament; atmosphere.
   • 1836, Joanna Baillie, Witchcraft, Act 1, p.13

     No, no, Leddy! the sun maun be up in the lift whan I venture to her den.

Synonyms

• (gas or vapour breathed): air
• (firmament, ethereal region surrounding the earth): atmosphere
• (the heavens, sky): welkin

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021), “lift”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• ILTF, flit

Danish

Etymology

From English lift

Noun

lift n (singular definite liftet, plural indefinite lift)

1. The non-commercial act of transporting someone in a vehicle: ride
2. boost

Inflection

Noun

lift c (singular definite liften, plural indefinite lifte or lifter)

1. carrycot
2. elevator
3. lift

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɪft/
• Hyphenation: lift
• Rhymes: -ɪft

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English lift.

Noun

lift m (plural liften, diminutive liftje n)

1. A lift, an elevator.
2. A free ride, a lift.

Derived terms

• goederenlift
• rolstoellift
• skilift
• stoeltjeslift
• traplift

Related terms

• liften

Descendants

• → Papiamentu: left

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lift

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of liften
2. imperative of liften

Estonian

Etymology

From English lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlift/

Noun

lift (genitive lifta, partitive lifta)

1. lift, elevator

Declension

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from English lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlift]
• Hyphenation: lift
• Rhymes: -ift

Noun

lift (plural liftek)

1. lift, elevator

Declension

Synonyms

• felvonó (dated)
• páternoszter (a slow, continuously moving lift or elevator)

Derived terms

• liftes
• liftezik

(Compound words):

• személyzeti lift (lift/elevator for staff)
• beteglift (lift/elevator for patients in hospitals)
• sílift
• teherlift

Further reading

• lift in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Indonesian

Etymology

From English lift, from Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪf]
• Hyphenation: lift

Noun

lift (plural lift-lift, first-person possessive liftku, second-person possessive liftmu, third-person possessive liftnya)

1. lift, mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building; an elevator.

Compounds

Further reading

• “lift” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

From English lift.

Noun

lift m (invariable)

1. lift / elevator operator
2. (tennis) topspin

Derived terms

• liftare

Romanian

Etymology

From English lift, French lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lift/

Noun

lift n (plural lifturi)

1. elevator, lift

   Synonym: ascensor

2. (tennis, table tennis, volleyball) A stroke that gives the ball an upward trajection.

Derived terms

• aerlift
• lift spațial

Scots

Alternative forms

• luft

Etymology

From Middle English lift, luft, from Old English lyft.

Noun

lift (plural lifts)

1. sky, firmament
2. (Middle Scots) air, atmosphere

References

• “lift” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From English lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lîft/

Noun

lȉft m (Cyrillic spelling ли̏фт)

1. lift, elevator

Declension

Synonyms

• dȉzalo

Slovak

Etymology

From English lift.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlift/

Noun

lift m (genitive singular liftu, nominative plural lifty, genitive plural liftov, declension pattern of dub)

1. (colloquial) an elevator, lift

Declension

Synonyms

• výťah

Derived terms

• liftový

Further reading

• lift in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

Uzbek

Etymology

From Russian лифт (lift), from English lift.

Noun

lift (plural liftlar)

1. elevator, lift

Declension

Related terms

• liftchi
• liftyor

Volapük

Noun

lift (nominative plural lifts)

1. elevator
2. altitude adjustor

Declension

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