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levitate

le·vi·tate

UK/ˈlɛvɪteɪt/ US/ˈlɛvɪˌteɪt/ rare

verb

1.

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

  • “The magician levitated the woman”
2.

be suspended in the air, as if in defiance of gravity

  • “The guru claimed that he could levitate”
Synonyms

Origin

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).

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Word family

Broader terms

Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.