LEV Flashcards
LEV
LEV comes from the Latin adjective levis, meaning “light,” and the verb levare, meaning “to raise or lighten.” So a lever is a bar used to lift something, by means of leverage. And levitation is the magician’s trick in which a body seems to rise into the air by itself.
alleviate
alleviate To lighten, lessen, or relieve, especially physical or mental suffering.
• Cold compresses alleviated the pain of the physical injury, but only time could alleviate the effect of the insult.
Physical pain or emotional anguish, or a water shortage or traffic congestion, can all be alleviated by providing the appropriate remedy. But some pain or anguish or shortage or congestion will remain: to alleviate is not to cure.
elevation
elevation (1) The height of a place. (2) The act or result of lifting or raising someone or something.
• Her doctor is concerned about the elevation of her blood pressure since her last visit.
When you’re hiking, you may be interested in knowing the highest elevation you’ll be reaching. Psychologists use the term “mood elevation” to mean improvement in a patient’s depression, and some leg ailments require elevation of the limb, usually so that it’s higher than the heart for part of each day. Elevation can also mean “promotion”; thus, a vice president may be elevated to president, or a captain may be elevated to admiral.
cantilever
cantilever A long piece of wood, metal, etc., that sticks out from a wall to support something above it.
• The house’s deck, supported by cantilevers, jutted out dramatically over the rocky slope, and looking over the edge made him dizzy.
Cantilevers hold up a surface or room without themselves being supported at their outer end. Many outdoor balconies are cantilevered, and theater balconies may be as well. A cantilevered bridge may have a huge span (as long as 1,800 feet) built out on either side of a single large foundation pier. Architects sometimes use cantilevered construction to produce dramatic effects; Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater” house, which extends out over a rocky river, is a famous example. But the Grand Canyon’s “Skywalk” has become perhaps the best-known piece of cantilevered construction in America.
levity
levity Lack of appropriate seriousness.
• The Puritan elders tried to ban levity of all sorts from the community’s meetings, but found it increasingly difficult to control the younger generation.
Levity originally was thought to be a physical force exactly like gravity but pulling in the opposite direction, like the helium in a balloon. As recently as the 19th century, scientists were still arguing about its existence. Today levity refers only to lightness in manner. To stern believers of some religious faiths, levity is often regarded as almost sinful. But the word, like its synonym frivolity, now has an old-fashioned ring to it and is usually used only halfseriously.
