levitatev.
/ˈlɛvᵻteɪt/, U.S. /ˈlɛvəˌteɪt/ 1. intransitive. To rise by virtue of lightness; opposed to gravitate v. 2b. Now only with reference to ‘spiritualism’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > be light [verb (intransitive)] > rise due to lightness
levitate1673
the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [verb (intransitive)] > levitate (of person)
levitate1879
1673 A. Marvell Rehearsal Transpros'd II. 186 A Lecture..upon the Centers of Knowledge and Ignorance, and how and when they Gravitate and Levitate.
1686 R. Boyle Free Enq. Notion Nature vi. 183 When 'tis there, it ceases either to gravitate, or, as some schoolmen speak, to levitate.
1879 Whitehall Rev. 13 Sept. 412/2 I have a stepson who levitates.
1887 Huxley in 19th Cent. Feb. 201 It is asserted that a man or a woman ‘levitated’ to the ceiling, floated about there, and finally sailed out by the window.
1971 Daily Tel. 19 Nov. 14/4 The demonstrators linked arms in a great circle..and repeated the invocation in the hope that the entire building would levitate.
2. transitive.† a. To make lighter or of less weight. Obsolete.figurative.1954 C. P. Snow New Men xxxiv. 240 The touch of the metal..levitated me to the forgotten happiness of a joyous summer night.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > make light or lighter [verb (transitive)]
lighta1225
lighten?a1425
alleviate1592
alightena1661
levitate1686
lightweight1955
1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica ii. v. 221 The Air being of a sudden levitated to such a measure.
b. Chiefly in the language of ‘spiritualists’: To cause to rise in the air in consequence of lightness, or by reversing the action of gravity. Also in scientific use: To cause (something heavier than the surrounding fluid) to rise or remain suspended without visible means (e.g. using magnetic forces).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [verb (transitive)] > cause to levitate
levitate1875
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrically induced magnetism > cause to rise [verb (transitive)]
levitate1952
1875 Q. Jrnl. Sci. 12 54 Many were levitated only in these unconscious states.
1884 Longman's Mag. V. 167 Tables turn, furniture dances, men are ‘levitated’.
1892 W. S. Lilly Great Enigma 114 No reasonable man would receive Mrs. Guppy as an ambassadress from the Infinite and Eternal, merely because she was levitated.
1894 Cent. Mag. Apr. 834/1 The extra amount of gas required to levitate my person to the clouds.
1952 Jrnl. Electrochem. Soc. 99 206/2 Slugs of any shape of various conductive metals could be levitated in the space between the coils.
1961 Ann. Reg. 1960 398 Sceptre 4..was to be rebuilt with an aluminium ring ‘levitated’ inside its ring-shaped chamber.
1971 Daily Tel. 5 Apr. 7/2 Superconducting magnets are now being investigated to levitate fast-moving trains into the air above the rails.
1973 Nature 9 Feb. 359/2 It is now feasible both to levitate and to propel a hovertrain using only a linear induction motor.
Derivatives
ˈlevitated adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [adjective] > raised by supposed lightness
levitated1875
1875 Q. Jrnl. Sci. 12 52 At least one Christian and one heathen case of levitated persons are recorded.
1893 A. Lang in Contemp. Rev. Sept. 380 The levitated boy..flew over a garden.
ˈlevitating adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [adjective] > rising due to lightness
levitating1859
1859 J. F. W. Herschel Familiar Lect. Sci. Subj. (1866) iii. §45. 131 The levitating portion of it being hurried off—the gravitating remaining behind.
ˈlevitative adj. adapted for or capable of levitation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [adjective] > rising due to lightness > adapted for or capable of
levitative1890
the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [adjective] > raised by supposed lightness > able to be
levitative1890
1890 Edinb. Rev. July 109 It had not indeed altogether escaped notice that bodies gain in weight through combustion; but the difficulty..was evaded by attributing to phlogiston a ‘levitative’ power.
1892 A. M. Clerke Familiar Stud. Homer x. 263 The dream of a levitative art lurked nowhere within the Homeric field of view.
ˈlevitator n. one who believes in levitation or professes ability to practise it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [noun] > raising by supposed lightness > one who practises
levitant1875
levitator1887
1887 Huxley in 19th Cent. Feb. 202 Our reply to the levitators is just the same. Why should not your friend ‘levitate’?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
v.1673