lever
See also: Lever
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Canada) IPA(key): /ˈliː.vɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈliː.və/,[1]
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈlɛv.ɚ/,[1][2][3] /ˈliː.vɚ/[1][2][3]
- Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ), -iːvə(ɹ)
- Homophones: leaver, Lever (for the pronunciation /ˈliːvə(ɹ)/)
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English lever, levore, levour, from Old French leveor, leveur (“a lifter, lever (also Old French and French levier)”), from Latin levātor (“a lifter”), from levō (“to raise”).
NounEdit
lever (plural levers)
- (mechanics) A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (the fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and motion.
- Specifically, a bar of metal, wood or other rigid substance, used to exert a pressure, or sustain a weight, at one point of its length, by receiving a force or power at a second, and turning at a third on a fixed point called a fulcrum. It is usually named as the first of the six mechanical powers, and is of three kinds, according as either the fulcrum F, the weight W, or the power P, respectively, is situated between the other two, as in the figures.
- A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a button).
- (mechanics) A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
- 2012 March 1, Henry Petroski, “Opening Doors”, in American Scientist[1], volume 100, number 2, page 112-3:
- A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place.
- (mechanics) An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.
- (obsolete, except in generalized senses below) A crowbar.
- 1613, John Marston; William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, IV.1:
- My lord, I brained him with a lever my neighbour lent me, and he stood by and cried, ‘Strike home, old boy!’
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
rigid piece
|
small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
VerbEdit
lever (third-person singular simple present levers, present participle levering, simple past and past participle levered)
- (transitive) To move with a lever.
- With great effort and a big crowbar I managed to lever the beam off the floor.
- 1938, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 7, in Homage to Catalonia[2], London: Secker & Warburg:
- Someone found a pick and levered a burst plank out of the floor, and in a few minutes we had got a fire alight and our drenched clothes were steaming.
- (figuratively, transitive) To use, operate or move (something) like a lever (physically).
- 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Vintage International, published 2001, Part Two, Chapter 1:
- Suddenly he had levered himself up from the sofa, rocking the lame man violently, and was walking towards the receptionist.
- (figuratively, transitive) To use (something) like a lever (in an abstract sense).
- 2001 April 9, Joshua Cooper Ramo, “Bagging the Butcher”, in Time:
- He was a man who levered his way from small-time communist hack to political power by tapping into the most potent vein of historical juice in the Balkans: nationalism.
- 2013 December 8, Robert McCrum, “Biographies of the year — review”, in The Guardian:
- Credited with pioneering the detective novel, Collins has attracted many biographers over the years, drawn to his extraordinary life and work in the hope of levering open a new understanding of the Victorian psyche.
- (chiefly UK, finance) To increase the share of debt in the capitalization of a business.
- 1989 June 26, “Corporate America wants its privacy”, in Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
- "The equity holders want you to 'lever up,' use as much debt as you can," said David Stanley, chairman of Kansas City-based Payless Cashways,
Derived termsEdit
Derived terms
TranslationsEdit
to move with a lever
to use like a lever
|
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English lever, comparative of leve, leef (“dear, beloved, lief”), equivalent to lief + -er. Related to German lieber (“rather”).
Alternative formsEdit
AdverbEdit
lever (not comparable)
- (obsolete) Rather.
- 1530, John Heywood, The Four PP:
- for I had lever be without ye / Then have suche besines about ye
- [1531, William Tyndale, transl.], The prophete Ionas […], [Antwerp: Merten de Keyser], chapter iiij:[3]:
- Now therfore take my life from me / for I had leuer dye then liue.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 128:
- For leuer had I die, then ſee his deadly face.
TranslationsEdit
rather — see rather
Etymology 3Edit
NounEdit
lever (plural levers)
- (rare) A levee.
- 1742, Miss Robinson, Mrs. Delany's Letters, II.191:
- We do not appear at Phœbus's Levér.
- 2011 September 21, Tim Blanning, “The reinvention of the night”, in Times Literary Supplement:
- Louis XIV’s day began with a lever at 9 and ended (officially) at around midnight.
Further readingEdit
- “lever”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “lever”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
ReferencesEdit
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 “lever”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 “lever”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 “lever”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
AnagramsEdit
DanishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old Danish liuær, from Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *librō, cognate with English liver and German Leber. The Germanic word may be an irregular remodelling of the Proto-Indo-European word for "liver", *yókʷr̥, cf. Ancient Greek ἧπαρ (hêpar) and Latin iecur.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
lever c (singular definite leveren, plural indefinite levere)
InflectionEdit
Declension of lever
Etymology 2Edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
lever
Etymology 3Edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
lever or levér
- imperative of levere
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle Dutch lēvere, from Old Dutch *levara, from Proto-West Germanic *libru, from Proto-Germanic *librō.
NounEdit
lever f (plural levers, diminutive levertje n)
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
- Afrikaans: lewer
- Berbice Creole Dutch: lefre
- Negerhollands: leber
- → Aukan: lebii
- → Indonesian: lever
- → Saramaccan: lebèn
- → Sranan Tongo: lefre
- → Caribbean Javanese: léfer
Etymology 2Edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
VerbEdit
lever
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
Inherited from Middle French lever, from Old French lever, from Latin levāre (“to elevate”), from levis (“light, not heavy”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
lever
- (transitive) to raise, lift
- Antonym: baisser
- (reflexive) to rise, stand up
- Antonym: s'abaisser
- (reflexive) (of celestial bodies) To rise, come up
- Antonym: se coucher
- Le Soleil se lève à l'est et se couche à l'ouest. ― The Sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
- (reflexive) to get up (out of bed)
- Je me lève, je me lave. ― I get up, I wash.
- Antonyms: se coucher, s'allonger
- (reflexive, of fog, rain and etc) to clear, lift
ConjugationEdit
This verb is conjugated mostly like the regular -er verbs (parler and chanter and so on), but the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-. For example, in the third-person singular present indicative, we have il lève rather than *il leve. Other verbs conjugated this way include acheter and mener. Related but distinct conjugations include those of appeler and préférer.
Conjugation of lever (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | lever | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | levant /lə.vɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | levé /lə.ve/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | lève /lɛv/ |
lèves /lɛv/ |
lève /lɛv/ |
levons /lə.vɔ̃/ |
levez /lə.ve/ |
lèvent /lɛv/ |
| imperfect | levais /lə.vɛ/ |
levais /lə.vɛ/ |
levait /lə.vɛ/ |
levions /lə.vjɔ̃/ |
leviez /lə.vje/ |
levaient /lə.vɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | levai /lə.ve/ |
levas /lə.va/ |
leva /lə.va/ |
levâmes /lə.vam/ |
levâtes /lə.vat/ |
levèrent /lə.vɛʁ/ | |
| future | lèverai /lɛ.vʁe/ or /le.vʁe/ |
lèveras /lɛ.vʁa/ or /le.vʁa/ |
lèvera /lɛ.vʁa/ or /le.vʁa/ |
lèverons /lɛ.vʁɔ̃/ or /le.vʁɔ̃/ |
lèverez /lɛ.vʁe/ or /le.vʁe/ |
lèveront /lɛ.vʁɔ̃/ or /le.vʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | lèverais /lɛ.vʁɛ/ or /le.vʁɛ/ |
lèverais /lɛ.vʁɛ/ or /le.vʁɛ/ |
lèverait /lɛ.vʁɛ/ or /le.vʁɛ/ |
lèverions /lɛ.və.ʁjɔ̃/ or /le.və.ʁjɔ̃/ |
lèveriez /lɛ.və.ʁje/ or /le.və.ʁje/ |
lèveraient /lɛ.vʁɛ/ or /le.vʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | lève /lɛv/ |
lèves /lɛv/ |
lève /lɛv/ |
levions /lə.vjɔ̃/ |
leviez /lə.vje/ |
lèvent /lɛv/ |
| imperfect2 | levasse /lə.vas/ |
levasses /lə.vas/ |
levât /lə.va/ |
levassions /lə.va.sjɔ̃/ |
levassiez /lə.va.sje/ |
levassent /lə.vas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | lève /lɛv/ |
— | levons /lə.vɔ̃/ |
levez /lə.ve/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived termsEdit
- au pied levé
- l'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt
- levage
- levant
- Levant
- Levantin
- lève-Dieu
- lève-tard
- levée
- lever du soleil
- lever l'ancre
- lever le camp
- lever le petit doigt
- lever le pied
- lever le voile
- lever les yeux au ciel
- lever un lièvre
- leveur
- levure
- se lever
- se lever du mauvais pied
- se lever du pied gauche
- vote à main levée
NounEdit
lever m (plural levers)
- the act of getting up in the morning
Further readingEdit
- “lever”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
AnagramsEdit
HungarianEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
lever
- (transitive) to knock down
ConjugationEdit
conjugation of lever
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- lever in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
IndonesianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Dutch lever (“liver”), from Middle Dutch lēvere, from Old Dutch *levara, from Proto-Germanic *librō. Doublet of liver.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
lèvêr (first-person possessive leverku, second-person possessive levermu, third-person possessive levernya)
Alternative formsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “lever” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
LatinEdit
VerbEdit
lēver
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Comparative of leve (“dear”) of Germanic origin (compare German lieb) or lief.
AdverbEdit
lever
- Rather.
- For him was lever have at his bed's head
Twenty bookes, clad in black or red,
. . . Than robes rich, or fithel, or gay sawtrie. —The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer - But lever than this worldés good
She would have wist how that it stood —Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins, John Gower.
- For him was lever have at his bed's head
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
lever
- Alternative form of lyvere (“liver”)
Etymology 3Edit
NounEdit
lever
- Alternative form of lyvere (“living being”)
Middle FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French lever.
VerbEdit
lever
- to lift
ConjugationEdit
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of lever
| infinitive | simple | lever | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | levant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | levé | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | leve | leves | leve | levons | levez | levent |
| imperfect | levois, levoys | levois, levoys | levoit, levoyt | levions, levyons | leviez, levyez | levoient, levoyent | |
| past historic | leva | levas | leva | levasmes | levastes | leverent | |
| future | leverai, leveray | leveras | levera | leverons | leverez | leveront | |
| conditional | leverois, leveroys | leverois, leveroys | leveroit, leveroyt | leverions, leveryons | leveriez, leveryez | leveroient, leveroyent | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie (i’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ilz, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | leve | leves | leve | levons | levez | levent |
| imperfect | levasse | levasses | levast | levassions | levassiez | levassent | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | leve | — | levons | levez | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679. | |||||||
| 2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180). | |||||||
DescendantsEdit
- French: lever
ReferencesEdit
- Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (lever, supplement)
Norwegian BokmålEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”).
NounEdit
lever m or f (definite singular leveren or levra, indefinite plural levere or levre or levrer, definite plural leverne or levrene)
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
VerbEdit
lever
- present tense of leve
- imperative of levere
ReferencesEdit
- “lever” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian NynorskEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”). Akin to English liver.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
lever f (definite singular levra, indefinite plural levrar or levrer, definite plural levrane or levrene)
Alternative formsEdit
- (superseded) livr
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
lever
Further readingEdit
- “lever” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin lēvāre, present active infinitive of lēvō.
VerbEdit
lever
ConjugationEdit
This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-v, *-vs, *-vt are modified to f, s, t. This verb has a stressed present stem liev distinct from the unstressed stem lev. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of lever (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | lever | avoir levé | |||||
| gerund | en levant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | levant | ||||||
| past participle | levé | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses |
present | lief | lieves | lieve | levons | levez | lievent |
| imperfect | levoie, leveie, levoe, leveve | levoies, leveies, levoes, leveves | levoit, leveit, levot, leveve | leviiens, leviens | leviiez, leviez | levoient, leveient, levoent, levevent | |
| preterite | levai | levas | leva | levames | levastes | leverent | |
| future | leverai | leveras | levera | leverons | leveroiz, levereiz, leverez | leveront | |
| conditional | leveroie, levereie | leveroies, levereies | leveroit, levereit | leveriiens, leveriens | leveriiez, leveriez | leveroient, levereient | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses |
present | lief | lies | liet | levons | levez | lievent |
| imperfect | levasse | levasses | levast | levissons, levissiens | levissoiz, levissez, levissiez | levassent | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | lieve | — | levons | levez | — | ||
DescendantsEdit
Old SwedishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old Norse hleifr, from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz.
NounEdit
lēver m
DeclensionEdit
Declension of lever (strong a-stem)
DescendantsEdit
- Swedish: lev
SwedishEdit
PronunciationEdit
audio (file)
Etymology 1Edit
From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”).
NounEdit
lever c
DeclensionEdit
| Declension of lever | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | lever | levern | levrar | levrarna |
| Genitive | levers | leverns | levrars | levrarnas |
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
- levra (“clot, coagulate”)
Etymology 2Edit
VerbEdit
lever
- present tense of leva.