English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin sublevare (to lift up), from sub (under) + levare (to lift, raise). Compare Latin sublevatio (an allevation).

Noun edit

sublevation (countable and uncountable, plural sublevations)

  1. The act of raising on high; elevation.
    • 1663, Edward Waterhous [i.e., Edward Waterhouse], chapter IV, in Fortescutus Illustratus; or A Commentary on that Nervous Treatise De Laudibus Legum Angliæ, Written by Sir John Fortescue Knight, [], London: [] Tho[mas] Roycroft for Thomas Dicas [], →OCLC, page 74:
      The greateſt diſcoveries men have of God's light and truth, are from the midſt of Lightnings and Thunders, Afflictions Storms end in a calm of merciful ſublevation; []
  2. An insurrection, an uprising.
    • 1695, William Temple, An Introduction to the History of England, London: [] Richard Simpson [], and Ralph Simpson [], →OCLC, page 211:
      So the Diſcontents and Inſurrections of the Nobles in England, though encouraged and ſupported by forreign Forces, yet failed of Succeſs againſt this nevv King and his Government, becauſe they vvere not follovved by any general Commotion or Sublevation of the People, vvhich left all ſafe and quiet in the Southern Parts, and main Body of the Kingdom, vvhilſt he marched vvith his Army againſt his Enemies in the North: []

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for sublevation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)