英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

leveller (n.)[leveller 词源字典]: 1590s, someone or something that makes level; agent noun of level (v.). From 1640s as the name of a political party of the time of Charles I that advocated abolishing all differences of position and rank.[leveller etymology, leveller origin, 英语词源]
lever (n.): c. 1300, from Old French levier (Modern French leveur) "a lifter, a lever," agent noun from lever "to raise," from Latin levare "to raise," from levis "light" in weight, from PIE root *legwh- "light, having little weight; easy, agile, nimble" (cognates: Sanskrit laghuh "quick, small;" Greek elakhys "small," elaphros "light;" Old Church Slavonic liguku, Lithuanian lengvas "light;" Old Irish laigiu "smaller, worse;" Gothic leihts, Old English leoht "light" (adj.)). As a verb, 1856, from the noun.
leverage (n.): 1724, "action of a lever," from lever (n.) + -age. Meaning "power or force of a lever" is from 1827; figurative sense from 1858. The financial sense is attested by 1933, American English; as a verb by 1956. Related: Leveraged; leverages; leveraging.
leveret (n.): "young hare," early 15c., from Old French levrat, diminutive of levre (12c., Modern French lièvre) "hare," from Latin lepore, from lepus.
Levi: masc. proper name, biblical son of Jacob by Leah, from Hebrew lewi, literally "joining, pledging, attached," from stem of lawah "he joined."
leviathan (n.): late 14c., "sea monster, sea serpent," also regarded as a form of Satan, from Late Latin leviathan, from Hebrew livyathan "dragon, serpent, huge sea animal," of unknown origin, perhaps related to liwyah "wreath," from root l-w-h- "to wind, turn, twist." Of powerful persons or things from c. 1600. Hobbes's use is from 1651.
levirate (n.): custom by which the male next-of-kin of a dead man was bound to marry his widow, 1725, from Latin levir "brother-in-law" (from PIE *daiwer- "husband's brother") + -ate (2).
Levis (n.): 1926, American English, originally Levi's, from Levi Strauss and Company, original manufacturer. Strauss' innovation was the copper rivets at strain points. A cowboy's accessory, adopted as a fashion c. 1940s.
levitate (v.): 1670s, "to rise by virtue of lightness," from Latin levitas "lightness," patterned in English on gravitate. Sense of "raise (a person) into the air" is mainly from spiritualism (1870s). Related: Levitated; levitating.
levitation (n.): 1660s, noun of action from Latin levitas (see levitate) + -ion.
Leviticus: third book of the Pentateuch, c. 1400, from Late Latin Leviticus (liber), literally "book of the Levites," from Greek to Leuitikon biblion, from Leuites, from Hebrew Lewi. Properly the part of the Pentateuch dealing with the function of the priests who were of the tribe of Levi (a portion of the tribe acted as assistants to the priests in the temple-worship). The Hebrew title is Torath Kohanim, literally "the law of the priests." Related: Levite; Levitical.
Levittown: used figuratively for "generic suburban tract housing," American English, from the vast planned real estate developments built by the firm Levitt & Sons Inc., the first on Long Island, 1946-51 (more than 17,000 homes), the second north of Philadelphia (1951-55).
levity (n.): "want of seriousness, frivolity," 1560s, from Latin levitatem (nominative levitas) "lightness, frivolity," from levis "light" in weight (see lever) + -ity.
levo-: word-forming element meaning "toward the left," from French lévo-, from Latin laevus "left" (see left (adj.)).
levy (v.): early 13c., "act of raising or collecting," from Anglo-French leve, from Old French levée "act of raising," noun use of fem. past participle of lever "to raise" (see lever). Originally of taxes, later of men for armies (c. 1500). Related: Levied; levying.
levy (n.): "an act of levying," early 15c., from Anglo-French leve, Old French levée "a raising, lifting; levying," noun use of fem. past participle of lever "to raise" (see lever).
lewd (adj.): Old English læwede "nonclerical," of uncertain origin but probably ultimately from Vulgar Latin *laigo-, from Latin laicus (see lay (adj.)). Sense of "unlettered, uneducated" (early 13c.) descended to "coarse, vile, lustful" by late 14c. Related: Lewdly; lewdness.
Lewis: masc. proper name, Anglo-French form of French Louis (see Louis).
lex talionis: 1590s, Latin, "law of retaliation," from talionis, genitive of talio (see retaliation); an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
lexeme (n.): 1937, from lexicon + -eme, ending abstracted from morpheme. Related: Lexemic.