lift

See also: Lift

English

Pronunciation

enPR: lĭft, IPA^(key): /lɪft/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪft

Etymology 1

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport".

(To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō)).^[1]

Verb

lift (third-person singular simple present lifts, present participle lifting, simple past lifted or (rare, regional, obsolete) lift, past participle lifted or (rare, regional, obsolete) lift or (obsolete) yleft)

(transitive, intransitive) To raise or rise.
The fog eventually lifted, leaving the streets clear.

You never lift a finger to help me!
- c. 1490, Of Penance and Confession be master Jhon Yrlandː
  Liftand (lifting) thy hands and thy eyen to Heaven.
- 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
  Their walk had continued not more than ten minutes when they crossed a creek by a wooden bridge and came to a row of mean houses standing flush with the street. At the door of one, an old black woman had stooped to lift a large basket, piled high with laundered clothes.
- 1984 October 12, Janet Maslin, “Blood Simple, A black-comic romp”, in The New York Times, retrieved 9 July 2012:
  A long, late-night tracking shot from one end of the Neon Boot bar to another actually tracks along the surface of the bar itself—and when there is a drunk passed out on the bar, the camera simply lifts up and flies over him, then continues on its route.
- 2015 February 7, Val Bourne, “The quiet man of the world of snowdrops”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G8:
  Once it [a snowdrop variety] became established, some bulbs were lifted and passed on to be chipped (i.e. cut into small pieces and grown on).
(transitive, slang) To steal.
- 1919, Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West:
  Kamal is out with twenty men to raise the Border side,
  And he has lifted the Colonel's mare that is the Colonel's pride.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
  “Wilbert Cream is a ... what's the word?” I referred to the letter. “A kleptomaniac […] Does any thought occur to you?” “It most certainly does. I am thinking of your uncle's collection of old silver.” “Me, too.” “It presents a grave temptation to the unhappy young man.” “I don't know that I'd call him unhappy. He probably thoroughly enjoys lifting the stuff.”
(transitive, slang) To source directly without acknowledgement; to plagiarise.
- 2018, James Lambert, “Anglo-Indian slang in dictionaries on historical principles”, in World Englishes, volume 37, page 258:
  Based on a similarity across a range of Anglo-Indian entries in these three dictionaries, it appears that (along with other lexis) Barrère and Leland (1898) copied this entry from Hotten (1864), who had in turn lifted it directly from Stocqueler (1848).
(transitive, slang) To arrest (a person).
- 2000, Marie Smyth, Marie-Therese Fay, Personal Accounts From Northern Ireland's Troubles:
  Maybe the police lifted him and he's in Castlereagh [Interrogation Centre] because he'd been lifted three or four times previously and took to Castlereagh. They used to come in and raid the house and take him away.
(transitive) To remove (a ban, restriction, etc.).
(transitive) To alleviate, to lighten (pressure, tension, stress, etc.)
- 2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:
  The Gunners boss has been heavily criticised for his side's poor start to the Premier League season but this result helps lift the pressure.
(transitive) to cause to move upwards.
- 2011 October 2, Aled Williams, “Swansea 2 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport Wales‎^[2]:
  Graham secured victory with five minutes left, coolly lifting the ball over Asmir Begovic.
(informal, intransitive) To lift weights; to weight-lift.
She lifts twice a week at the gym.
To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.
- a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:
  strained by lifting at a weight too heavy
To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.; often with up.
- 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:
  The Roman virtues lift up mortal man.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 3:6:
  being lifted up with pride
(obsolete) To bear; to support.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  Th' earth him underneath
  Did grone, as feeble so great load to lift.
To collect, as moneys due; to raise.
(category theory, transitive) Given morphisms $f$ and $g$ with the same target: To produce a morphism which the given morphism factors through (i.e. a morphism $h$ $h$ such that $f=g\circ h$ $f=g\circ h$ ; cf. lift n.18)
1. (programming) To transform (a function) into a corresponding function in a different context.
  - 2021, Dean Wampler, chapter 2, in Programming Scala, 3rd edition, O'Reilly, →ISBN:
    Finally, we can lift a partial function into a regular (total) function that returns an Option or a Some(value) when the partial function is defined for the input argument or None when it isn't.
(finance) To buy a security or other asset previously offered for sale.
(hunting, transitive) To take (hounds) off the existing scent and move them to another spot.
- 1885, Lina Chaworth Musters, Book of Hunting Songs and Sport, page 144:
  I lifted the hounds (hoping to catch the leading ones there) to the far side of Hallaton Thorns.

Usage notes

Lift also has an obsolete form liftand for the present participle. The strong forms were common until the 17th century in writing and still survive in speech in a few rural dialects.

Hyponyms

airlift

Derived terms

Translations

to raise or rise

Afrikaans: oplig (af)
Arabic: رَفَعَ (ar) (rafaʕa)
Egyptian Arabic: رفع (rafaʕ)

Hijazi Arabic: رفع (rafaʕ), شال (šāl)
Assamese:
Central: দাঙা (daṅa), উঠোৱা (uthüa) (lift and place), তোলা (tüla) (lift from below)

Eastern: দঙা (doṅa), উঠোৱা (uthüa) (lift and place), তোলা (tüla) (lift from below)
Asturian: alzar
Azerbaijani: qaldırmaq (az), qalxızmaq
Belarusian: падніма́ць impf (padnimácʹ), падня́ць pf (padnjácʹ)
Bulgarian: вдигам (bg) (vdigam), повдигам (bg) (povdigam)
Catalan: alçar (ca), aixecar (ca)
Cebuano: aswat, baswat, hangwat
Chinese:
Mandarin: 举 (zh) (jǔ)
Crimean Tatar: kötermek
Czech: zvednout (cs), zdvihnout (cs), zvedat (cs) impf, zdvihat (cs) impf
Dalmatian: alzur
Danish: løfte (da), hæve, ophæve (ban, embargo etc.)
Dutch: opheffen (nl)
Esperanto: levi
Finnish: nostaa (fi) (to raise), nousta (fi) (to rise)
French: lever (fr)
Friulian: jevâ
Georgian: აწევა (ac̣eva), ატანა (aṭana), აყვანა (aq̇vana)
German: heben (de), anheben (de)
Greek: ανυψώνω (el) (anypsóno), σηκώνω (el) (sikóno)
Ancient: αἴρω (aírō), βαστάζω (bastázō), ἀείρω (aeírō) (Epic)
Guaraní: mopu'ã
Hungarian: emel (hu)
Ido: levar (io)
Ingrian: nostaa, ylentää
Interlingua: levar
Irish: tóg
Italian: alzare (it), levare (it)
Kabuverdianu: isa
Khmer: លើក (km) (ləək)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: hildan (ku)
Lao: ຍົກ (nyok)
Latgalian: ceļt
Latin: tollō
Latvian: celt (lv)
Lombard: alzà (lmo)
Luxembourgish: hiewen
Macedonian: крева (kreva), дига (diga)
Malay: angkat (ms)
Maori: tiraki (of clouds), hāpai, hiki, huataki, rangahua (with a lever), kōranga
Norman: êl'ver
Norwegian: løfte (no), heve (no)
Occitan: auçar (oc)
Old English: hebban
Old Saxon: hebbian
Polish: podnosić (pl) impf, podnieść (pl) pf, dźwigać (pl) impf, dźwignąć pf, wznosić (pl) impf, wznieść (pl) pf, unosić (pl) impf, unieść (pl) pf
Portuguese: elevar (pt), erguer (pt), alçar (pt), levantar (pt)
Quechua: huq'ariy
Romanian: ridica (ro)
Russian: поднима́ть (ru) impf (podnimátʹ), подня́ть (ru) pf (podnjátʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: tog
Slovak: zdvihnúť, zodvihnúť
Slovene: dvigniti (sl)
Sotho: phahamisa
Spanish: levantar (es), subir (es)
Swedish: lyfta (sv)
Thai: ยก (th) (yók)
Tibetan: བཀྱགས (bkyags), བཏེགས (btegs)
Tocharian B: täl-
Tok Pisin: liptimapim
Turkish: yükseltmek (tr), kaldırmak (tr)
Ukrainian: підніма́ти (uk) (pidnimáty)
Venetan: łevar, alsar (vec)
Vietnamese: nâng (vi), nhấc (vi)

to steal

Afrikaans: steel (af)
Azerbaijani: çırpışdırmaq
Bulgarian: крада (bg) (krada)
Czech: krást (cs) impf, ukrást (cs) pf
Danish: stjæle (da)
Dutch: stelen (nl)
Finnish: varastaa (fi)
French: voler (fr), piquer (fr)
German: klauen (de), stehlen (de)
Greek: σηκώνω (el) (sikóno)
Hungarian: elemel (hu)
Macedonian: дига (diga)
Norwegian: loppe
Old English: stelan
Old Saxon: stelan
Portuguese: roubar (pt), abafar (pt), chutar (pt) (slang)
Slovene: krasti (sl)
Sotho: utswa (st)
Spanish: afanar (es)
Swedish: snatta (sv)
Turkish: çalmak (tr), yürütmek (tr), hırsızlık yapmak

to remove a ban, restriction

Azerbaijani: aradan qaldırmaq
Azerbaijani: aradan qaldırmaq
Bulgarian: вдигам (bg) (vdigam)
Czech: uvolnit (cs) pf
Finnish: kumota (fi)
French: lever (fr)
Spanish: levantar (es)

to alleviate, lighten

Finnish: helpottaa (fi), keventää (fi)

to cause to move upwards

Azerbaijani: yuxarı çəkmək
Bulgarian: издигам (bg) (izdigam)
Finnish: nostaa (fi)

to lift weights — see also weight-lift

Czech: vzpírat impf, vzepřít pf
Finnish: nostaa (fi)
Russian: жать (ru) (žatʹ)

to try to raise something

Finnish: nostaa (fi)

to elevate or improve in rank

Azerbaijani: rütbəcə yüksəltmək, qabağa çəkmək, irəli çəkmək, irəli çəkmək, rütbəcə yüksəltmək
Azerbaijani: qabağa çəkmək
Czech: povýšit pf, povyšovat impf
Finnish: yletä

to bear, support

Czech: podpírat impf, podepřít pf
Finnish: kannattaa (fi), tukea (fi)

to collect, as moneys due

Czech: vybrat (cs) pf, zinkasovat pf
Finnish: periä (fi) (dues); kerätä (fi) (donations etc.)

programming: to transform into a different context

Finnish: nostaa (fi)

Noun

lift (countable and uncountable, plural lifts)

An act of lifting or raising.
The act of transporting someone in a vehicle; a ride; a trip.
Synonym: ride

He gave me a lift to the bus station.
- 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
  Accordingly, in spite of many grumbles and remonstrances from Summerlee, I ordered an additional tube, which was placed with the other in his motor-car, for he had offered me a lift to Victoria.
(UK, Australia and New Zealand, puristic elsewhere) Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building.
Synonym: (US, Canada, Australia) elevator

Take the lift to the fourth floor.
An upward force; especially, the force (generated by wings, rotary wings, or airfoils) that keeps aircraft aloft.
Coordinate term: liftup
(measurement) The difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway, separated by lock.
(historical slang) A thief.
- 1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society, published 2006, page 32:
  The lift came into the shop dressed like a country gentleman, but was careful not to have a cloak about him, so that the tradesman could see he had no opportunity to conceal any goods about his person.
(dance) The lifting of a dance partner into the air.
Permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically.
(figurative) An improvement in mood.
- 2010, Anne Baker, With a Little Luck:
  Just to think he had both a mistress and a wife gave him a lift. He needed a lift, for although he'd had promotion, his wasn't an exciting job.
- 2012 November 17, “Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport‎^[3]:
  The dismissal of a player who left Arsenal for Manchester City before joining Tottenham gave the home players and fans a noticeable lift.
The amount or weight to be lifted.
What's the maximum lift of this crane?
The space or distance through which anything is lifted.^[2]
A rise; a degree of elevation.^[2]
the lift of a lock in canals
A liftgate.
(nautical) A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below, and used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.^[2]
(engineering) One of the steps of a cone pulley.^[2]
(shoemaking) A layer of leather in the heel of a shoe.^[2]
(horology) That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given.^[2]
- 1887, Claudius Saunier, A Treatise on Modern Horology in Theory and Practice:
  some measure the total lift and others only the lift on one side , a quantity which is not exactly half of the total lift
(category theory) A morphism which some given morphism factors through; i.e. given a pair of morphisms $f:X\to Y$ $f:X\to Y$ and $g:Z\to Y$ $g:Z\to Y$ , a morphism $h$ $h$ such that $f=g\circ h$ $f=g\circ h$ . (In this case $h$ is said to be a lift of $f$ via $Z$ or via $g$ ).
- 2001, Allen Hatcher, Algebraic Topology, page 69:
  For a covering space $p:{\tilde {X}}\to X$ a path $\gamma$ [i.e. a continuous map $[0,1]\to X$ ] in $X$ has a unique lift ${\tilde {\gamma }}$ starting at a given point of $p^{-1}(\gamma (0))$

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Cantonese: 𨋢 / 䢂 (lip¹)
→ Dutch: lift
- → Papiamentu: left
→ Malay: lif
→ Russian: лифт (lift)
- → Armenian: լիֆտ (lift)
- → Georgian: ლიფტი (lipṭi)
- → Kazakh: лифт (lift)
- → Mongolian: лифт (lift)
- → Uyghur: لىفت (lift)
- → Uzbek: lift
- → Yakut: лифт (lift)
→ Swahili: lifti
→ Swedish: lift

Translations

act of lifting or raising

Bulgarian: вдигане (bg) n (vdigane)
Czech: zdvihání n, zdvihání n
Finnish: nostaminen (fi), nosto (fi)
French: levée (fr)
Italian: sollevamento (it) m
Slovak: zdvih
Welsh: codi (cy) m, codiad (cy) m

the act of transporting someone in a vehicle — see ride

mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people

Afrikaans: hysbak (af)
Albanian: ashensor (sq) m
Amharic: አሳንሰር (ʾäsansär)
Arabic: مِصْعَد m (miṣʕad), أَصَنْصِير m (ʔaṣanṣēr) (regional, colloquial)
Egyptian Arabic: أَصَنْصِير m (ʔaṣanṣēr)

Gulf Arabic: أَصَنْصير m (ʔaṣanṣēr)

Hijazi Arabic: أَصَنْصير m (ʔaṣanṣēr)

South Levantine Arabic: لفت m (lift)
Armenian: վերելակ (hy) (verelak), լիֆտ (hy) (lift) (colloquial)
Asturian: ascensor (ast) m
Azerbaijani: lift (az)
Basque: igogailu
Belarusian: ліфт m (lift)
Bengali: লিফট (bn) (liphoṭ)
Bulgarian: асансьо́р (bg) m (asansjór), лифт (bg) m (lift)
Burmese: ဓာတ်လှေကား (my) (dhathleka:)
Catalan: ascensor (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 電梯 / 电梯 (din⁶ tai¹), 升降機 (sing¹ gong³ gei¹), 𨋢 / 䢂 (yue) (lip¹) (Hong Kong)

Dungan: дянти (di͡anti)

Eastern Min: 機器梯 / 机器梯 (gĭ-ké-tăi)

Hokkien: 電梯 / 电梯 (zh-min-nan) (tiān-thui), 升降機 (seng-kàng-ki)

Mandarin: 電梯 / 电梯 (zh) (diàntī), 升降機 (zh) (shēngjiàngjī)

Wu: 電梯 / 电梯 (⁶di-thi)
Cornish: yskynnell f
Czech: výtah (cs) m
Danish: elevator (da) c
Dutch: lift (nl) m
Esperanto: lifto
Estonian: lift (et)
Faroese: lyfta (fo) f
Finnish: hissi (fi), nostin (fi)
French: ascenseur (fr) m
Galician: ascensor (gl) m
Georgian: ლიფტი (lipṭi)
German: Fahrstuhl (de) m, Aufzug (de) m, Lift (de) m
Greek: ασανσέρ (el) n (asansér), ανελκυστήρας (el) m (anelkystíras)
Hebrew: מַעֲלִית (he) f (ma'alít)
Hindi: लिफ़्ट f (lifṭ), लिफ्ट f (liphṭ), उत्थापक (hi) m (utthāpak), उच्चालित्र (uccālitra)
Hungarian: lift (hu), felvonó (hu), személyfelvonó (hu)
Icelandic: lyfta (is) f
Ido: acensilo (io)
Indonesian: lift (id)
Irish: ardaitheoir m
Italian: ascensore (it) m
Japanese: エレベーター (ja) (erebētā), 昇降機 (ja) (しょうこうき, shōkōki)
Kannada: ಏರಿಳಿಯಂತ್ರ (kn) (ēriḷiyantra), ಎತ್ತುಗ (kn) (ettuga)
Kazakh: лифт (lift), көтергіш (kötergış)
Khmer: ជណ្ដើរយោង (cŭəndaə yoong), អាស់សង់ស័រ (ʼahsɑngsɔə)
Korean: 엘리베이터 (ko) (ellibeiteo), 승강기(昇降機) (ko) (seungganggi)
Kyrgyz: лифт (lift), көтөргүч (kötörgüc)
Lao: ຂັ້ນໄດໄຟຟ້າ (khan dai fai fā), ລິບ (lip), ລິຟ (lip)
Latin: anabathrum f, pēgma n
Latvian: lifts m
Lithuanian: liftas m
Macedonian: лифт m (lift)
Malay: lif
Malayalam: ലിഫ്റ്റ് (liphṟṟŭ)
Maltese: lift m
Maori: ararewa
Marathi: उद्वाहक (udvāhak)
Mirandese: albador m, eilebador m
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: цахилгаан шат (caxilgaan šat), лифт (mn) (lift) (Mongolia popular)

Mongolian: ᠴᠠᠬᠢᠯᠭᠠᠨ
ᠱᠠᠲᠤ (čakilɣan šatu), ᠯᠢᠹᠲ (lift)
Nahuatl: acuanhuaztli, tepantlacoc
Navajo: dego dóó yaago iłnídílzhoʼí, hoł háádaalchʼąłígíí, hoł háádaalzhoʼígíí, hoł háádaalwoʼígíí
Nepali: लिफ्ट (liphṭa)
Norman: ascenseux m
Norwegian:
Bokmål: heis (no) m

Nynorsk: heis m
Ossetian: лифт (lift)
Pashto: اسانسور m (asānsor), لفت m (left), لېفټ m (lefṭ)
Persian:
Dari: لِفْت (lift)

Iranian Persian: آسانْسور (âsânsor), بالابَر (bâlâbar)
Plautdietsch: Ellewäta m
Polish: winda (pl) f, wyciąg (pl) m, dźwig (pl) m
Portuguese: ascensor (pt) m, elevador (pt) m
Romanian: lift (ro) n, ascensor (ro) n
Russian: лифт (ru) m (lift), (large or industrial) элева́тор (ru) m (elevátor), подъёмник (ru) m (podʺjómnik)
Scottish Gaelic: lioft m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ли̏фт m, ди̏зало n

Roman: lȉft (sh) m, dȉzalo (sh)
Sinhalese: ආරෝහකය (ārōhakaya)
Slovak: výťah m, lift m
Slovene: dvigalo n
Sotho: lefite
Spanish: ascensor (es) m, (Mexico, Puerto Rico) elevador (es) m
Swahili: eleveta (sw), kipandishi, lifti (sw)
Swedish: hiss (sv)
Tagalog: asensor
Tajik: лифт (tg) (lift)
Tamil: உயர்த்தி (ta) (uyartti), மின்தூக்கி (ta) (miṉtūkki)
Tatar: лифт (lift), күтәргеч (tt) (kütärgeç)
Telugu: లిఫ్ట్ (liphṭ), ఎలివేటర్ (elivēṭar)
Thai: ลิฟต์ (th) (líp)
Tibetan: གློག་གི་སྐས་འཛེགས (glog gi skas 'dzegs)
Turkish: asansör (tr), götürge
Turkmen: lift
Ukrainian: ліфт (uk) m (lift)
Urdu: لِفْٹ f (lifṭ), بالا بَر m (bālā bar), ^{(please verify)} رافِع (rāfi')
Uyghur: لىفت (lift), لېفىت (lëfit)
Uzbek: lift (uz)
Vietnamese: thang máy (vi)
Welsh: lifft (cy) m
West Frisian: lift c
Yiddish: ליפֿט (lift)

upward force

Bulgarian: поде́м (bg) m (podém), поде́мна си́ла f (podémna síla)
Czech: vztlak m
Danish: løft n
Finnish: noste (fi), nostovoima
French: portance (fr) m
German: Auftrieb (de) m
Greek: άνωση (el) f (ánosi)
Indonesian: daya angkat (id)
Italian: portanza (it) f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: løft n
Polish: siła nośna f
Portuguese: sustentação (pt) f
Russian: подъём (ru) m (podʺjóm), подъёмная си́ла f (podʺjómnaja síla)
Swedish: lyft (sv)
Ukrainian: підйо́м m (pidjóm)

difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway

Finnish: nousu (fi)
Italian: dislivello (it) m

thief — see thief

dance: lifting of a dance partner into the air

Finnish: nosto (fi)
German: Hebefigur f
Italian: sollevamento (it) m
Russian: подня́тие (ru) n (podnjátije), подъём (ru) m (podʺjóm), подде́ржка (ru) f (poddéržka)

permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically

Belarusian: пад'ёмнік m (padʺjómnik)
Bulgarian: поде́мник (bg) m (podémnik)
Finnish: nostin (fi)
Italian: ascensore (it) m, montacarichi (it) m
Russian: подъёмник (ru) m (podʺjómnik)
Ukrainian: підійма́ч m (pidijmáč), підйо́мник m (pidjómnyk)

improvement in mood

Finnish: mielialan parannus
Italian: sollievo (it) m

space or distance through which anything is lifted

Finnish: nostokorkeus

rise; degree of elevation

Finnish: nousu (fi)

liftgate — see liftgate

nautical: rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below

Finnish: nostin (fi)
Hebrew: מַתְלֶה (he) m (matle)

engineering: one of the steps of a cone pulley

Finnish: porras (fi)

shoemaking: layer of leather in the heel of a shoe

Finnish: korkolappu

horology: portion of the vibration of a balance

Finnish: nosto (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} dizalica (sh)

References

The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Etymology 2

From Middle English lifte, luft, lefte (“air, sky, heaven”), from Old English lyft (“atmosphere, air”), from Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“roof, sky, air”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”).

Cognate with Old High German luft (“air”) (German Luft), Dutch lucht (“air”), Old Norse lopt, loft (“upper room, sky, air”). Doublet of loft and luft.

Noun

lift (usually uncountable, plural lifts)

(UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) Air.
(UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) The sky; the heavens; firmament; atmosphere.
- 1836, Joanna Baillie, Witchcraft, act 1, page 13:
  No, no, Leddy! the sun maun be up in the lift whan I venture to her den.

Synonyms

(gas or vapour breathed): air
(firmament, ethereal region surrounding the earth): atmosphere
(the heavens, sky): welkin

References

“lift”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
“lift”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “lift”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

^ Hlenni in Cleasby/Vigfusson An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874) p. 270
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 “lift”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

ILTF, flit

Azerbaijani

Azerbaijani Wikipedia has an article on:

lift

Wikipedia ^az

Noun

lift (definite accusative lifti, plural liftlər)

lift

Declension

Declension of lift
	singular	plural
nominative	lift	liftlər
definite accusative	lifti	liftləri
dative	liftə	liftlərə
locative	liftdə	liftlərdə
ablative	liftdən	liftlərdən
definite genitive	liftin	liftlərin

Possessive forms of lift
	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	liftim	liftlərim
sənin (“your”)	liftin	liftlərin
onun (“his/her/its”)	lifti	liftləri
bizim (“our”)	liftimiz	liftlərimiz
sizin (“your”)	liftiniz	liftləriniz
onların (“their”)	lifti or liftləri	liftləri
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	liftimi	liftlərimi
sənin (“your”)	liftini	liftlərini
onun (“his/her/its”)	liftini	liftlərini
bizim (“our”)	liftimizi	liftlərimizi
sizin (“your”)	liftinizi	liftlərinizi
onların (“their”)	liftini or liftlərini	liftlərini
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	liftimə	liftlərimə
sənin (“your”)	liftinə	liftlərinə
onun (“his/her/its”)	liftinə	liftlərinə
bizim (“our”)	liftimizə	liftlərimizə
sizin (“your”)	liftinizə	liftlərinizə
onların (“their”)	liftinə or liftlərinə	liftlərinə
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	liftimdə	liftlərimdə
sənin (“your”)	liftində	liftlərində
onun (“his/her/its”)	liftində	liftlərində
bizim (“our”)	liftimizdə	liftlərimizdə
sizin (“your”)	liftinizdə	liftlərinizdə
onların (“their”)	liftində or liftlərində	liftlərində
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	liftimdən	liftlərimdən
sənin (“your”)	liftindən	liftlərindən
onun (“his/her/its”)	liftindən	liftlərindən
bizim (“our”)	liftimizdən	liftlərimizdən
sizin (“your”)	liftinizdən	liftlərinizdən
onların (“their”)	liftindən or liftlərindən	liftlərindən
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	liftimin	liftlərimin
sənin (“your”)	liftinin	liftlərinin
onun (“his/her/its”)	liftinin	liftlərinin
bizim (“our”)	liftimizin	liftlərimizin
sizin (“your”)	liftinizin	liftlərinizin
onların (“their”)	liftinin or liftlərinin	liftlərinin

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of l i f t – see 𨋢 (“elevator; lift”). (This term is a variant form of 𨋢).

Danish

Etymology

From English lift.

Noun

lift n (singular definite liftet, plural indefinite lift)

The non-commercial act of transporting someone in a vehicle: ride
boost

Inflection

Declension of lift

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
neuter gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	lift	liftet	lift	liftene
genitive	lifts	liftets	lifts	liftenes

Noun

lift c (singular definite liften, plural indefinite lifte or lifter)

Inflection

Declension of lift

common gender	Singular		Plural
common gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	lift	liften	lifte lifter	liftene lifterne
genitive	lifts	liftens	liftes lifters	liftenes lifternes

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

lift

Wikipedia ^nl

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lɪft/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: lift
Rhymes: -ɪft

Etymology 1

Borrowed from British English lift.

Noun

lift m (plural liften, diminutive liftje n)

a lift, an elevator
a free ride, a lift

Derived terms

Related terms

liften

Descendants

→ Papiamentu: left

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

lift

inflection of liften:
1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
2. imperative

Estonian

Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:

lift

Wikipedia ^et

Etymology

From British English lift.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈlift/

Noun

lift (genitive lifti, partitive lifti)

lift, elevator

Declension

Declension of lift (ÕS type 22u/leib, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		lift	liftid
accusative	nom.	lift
accusative	gen.	lifti
genitive		lifti	liftide
partitive		lifti	liftu liftisid
illative		lifti liftisse	liftidesse liftusse
inessive		liftis	liftides liftus
elative		liftist	liftidest liftust
allative		liftile	liftidele liftule
adessive		liftil	liftidel liftul
ablative		liftilt	liftidelt liftult
translative		liftiks	liftideks liftuks
terminative		liftini	liftideni
essive		liftina	liftidena
abessive		liftita	liftideta
comitative		liftiga	liftidega

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English lift.

Pronunciation

Audio (Canada): (file)

Noun

lift m (plural lifts)

(obsolete) lift attendant (UK), elevator attendant (US)
- 1919, Marcel Proust, À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs:
  Sans la timidité ni la tristesse du soir de mon arrivée, je sonnai le lift qui ne restait plus silencieux pendant que je m'élevais à côté de lui dans l'ascenseur […] .
  Without the timidity or sadness of the evening I arrived, I rang for the lift attendant, who no longer remained silent as I travelled up beside him in the elevator.
(sports) topspin

References

“lift”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from British English lift.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈlift]
Hyphenation: lift
Rhymes: -ift

Noun

lift (plural liftek)

lift, elevator
Synonym: (formal) felvonó

Hyponym: (a slow, continuously moving lift or elevator) páternoszter

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	lift	liftek
accusative	liftet	lifteket
dative	liftnek	lifteknek
instrumental	lifttel	liftekkel
causal-final	liftért	liftekért
translative	liftté	liftekké
terminative	liftig	liftekig
essive-formal	liftként	liftekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	liftben	liftekben
superessive	liften	lifteken
adessive	liftnél	lifteknél
illative	liftbe	liftekbe
sublative	liftre	liftekre
allative	lifthez	liftekhez
elative	liftből	liftekből
delative	liftről	liftekről
ablative	lifttől	liftektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	lifté	lifteké
non-attributive possessive - plural	liftéi	liftekéi

Possessive forms of lift
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	liftem	liftjeim
2nd person sing.	lifted	liftjeid
3rd person sing.	liftje	liftjei
1st person plural	liftünk	liftjeink
2nd person plural	liftetek	liftjeitek
3rd person plural	liftjük	liftjeik

Derived terms

Compound words

beteglift (lift/elevator for patients in hospitals)
sílift
teherlift

Expressions

személyzeti lift (lift/elevator for staff)

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

lift

Wikipedia ^id

Etymology

From British English lift, from Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈlɪf]
Rhymes: -lɪf, -ɪf, -f
Hyphenation: lift

Noun

lift (plural lift-lift)

lift, mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building; an elevator.

Alternative forms

lif (Standard Malay)

Compounds

Italian

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism. In sense 1, a clipping of English liftboy. In sense 2, a transferred sense of English lift.

Noun

lift m (invariable)

lift / elevator operator
(tennis) topspin

Derived terms

liftare

Middle English

Alternative forms

luft, left, leoft

Etymology

From Old English lyft.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lift/

Adjective

lift

left

Descendants

English: left
Yola: left

References

“lift, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle Scots

Etymology 1

From Middle English lift, luft, from Old English lyft.

Alternative forms

lyft, luft, lifte, lyfft

Noun

lift

sky, firmament
air, atmosphere

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Alternative forms

lyft

Noun

lift

act of lifting

References

“lift”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from British English lift, French lift.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lift/

Noun

lift n (plural lifturi)

elevator, lift
Synonym: ascensor
(tennis, table tennis, volleyball) A stroke that gives the ball an upward trajection.

Derived terms

Scots

Alternative forms

luft

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Scots lift, from Middle English lift / luft, from Old English lyft.

Noun

lift (plural lifts)

sky, firmament

References

“lift”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From British English lift.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lîft/

Noun

lȉft m (Cyrillic spelling ли̏фт)

lift, elevator
Synonym: dȉzalo

Declension

Declension of lift

	singular	plural
nominative	lȉft	lìftovi
genitive	lifta	lìftōvā
dative	liftu	liftovima
accusative	lift	liftove
vocative	lifte	liftovi
locative	liftu	liftovima
instrumental	liftom	liftovima

Slovak

Etymology

Derived from British English lift.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ʎift]

Noun

lift m inan (genitive singular liftu, nominative plural lifty, genitive plural liftov, declension pattern of dub)

(colloquial) an elevator, lift
Synonym: výťah

Declension

Declension of lift

	singular	plural
nominative	lift	lifty
genitive	liftu	liftov
dative	liftu	liftom
accusative	lift	lifty
locative	lifte	liftoch
instrumental	liftom	liftami, liftmi

Derived terms

liftový

Swedish

en lift (knapplift (button lift))

Etymology

Borrowed from English lift.

Noun

lift c

a ski lift
Synonym: skidlift

ta liften uppför fjället
take the ski lift up the mountain

lära sig att åka lift
learn to ride a ski lift
an aerial work platform
Synonym: skylift
a ride, a lift (for free, for example when hitchhiking)
få lift någonstans
get/hitch a ride somewhere

Usage notes

Compare skjuts.

Declension

Declension of **lift**
		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	lift	lifts
singular	definite	liften	liftens
plural	indefinite	liftar	liftars
plural	definite	liftarna	liftarnas

Derived terms

knapplift (“button lift”)
liftkort (“lift pass”)
replift (“ski tow”)
skidlift (“ski lift”)
släplift (“surface lift”)
sittlift (“chair lift”)

Related terms

lifta (“hitchhike”)
liftare (“hitchhiker”)

References

Uzbek

Uzbek Wikipedia has an article on:

lift

Wikipedia ^uz

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian лифт (lift), from British English lift.

Noun

lift (plural liftlar)

elevator, lift

Declension

Declension of lift

	singular	plural
nominative	lift	liftlar
genitive	liftning	liftlarning
dative	liftga	liftlarga
definite accusative	liftni	liftlarni
locative	liftda	liftlarda
ablative	liftdan	liftlardan
similative	liftdek	liftlardek

Possessive forms of lift

my	singular	plural
nominative	liftim	liftlarim
genitive	liftimning	liftlarimning
dative	liftimga	liftlarimga
definite accusative	liftimni	liftlarimni
locative	liftimda	liftlarimda
ablative	liftimdan	liftlarimdan
similative	liftimdek	liftlarimdek
your	singular	plural
nominative	lifting	liftlaring
genitive	liftingning	liftlaringning
dative	liftingga	liftlaringga
definite accusative	liftingni	liftlaringni
locative	liftingda	liftlaringda
ablative	liftingdan	liftlaringdan
similative	liftingdek	liftlaringdek
her/his/its	singular	plural
nominative	lifti	liftlari
genitive	liftining	liftlarining
dative	liftiga	liftlariga
definite accusative	liftini	liftlarini
locative	liftida	liftlarida
ablative	liftidan	liftlaridan
similative	liftidek	liftlaridek
our	singular	plural
nominative	liftimiz	liftlarimiz
genitive	liftimizning	liftlarimizning
dative	liftimizga	liftlarimizga
definite accusative	liftimizni	liftlarimizni
locative	liftimizda	liftlarimizda
ablative	liftimizdan	liftlarimizdan
similative	liftimizdek	liftlarimizdek
your	singular	plural
nominative	liftingiz	liftlaringiz
genitive	liftingizning	liftlaringizning
dative	liftingizga	liftlaringizga
definite accusative	liftingizni	liftlaringizni
locative	liftingizda	liftlaringizda
ablative	liftingizdan	liftlaringizdan
similative	liftingizdek	liftlaringizdek
their	singular	plural
nominative	lifti	liftlari
genitive	liftining	liftlarining
dative	liftiga	liftlariga
definite accusative	liftini	liftlarini
locative	liftida	liftlarida
ablative	liftidan	liftlaridan	similative	liftidek	liftlaridek

Related terms

Volapük

Noun

lift (nominative plural lifts)

elevator
altitude adjustor

Declension

declension of lift

	singular	plural
nominative	lift	lifts
genitive	lifta	liftas
dative	lifte	liftes
accusative	lifti	liftis
vocative ¹	o lift!	o lifts!
predicative ²	liftu	liftus

¹ status as a case is disputed
² in later, non-classical Volapük only

[1] Hlenni in Cleasby/Vigfusson An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874) p. 270

[Webster-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 “lift”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

[1]

[2]

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Verb

Usage notes

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

References

Etymology 2

Noun

Synonyms

References

Anagrams

Azerbaijani

Noun

Declension

Further reading

Chinese

Danish

Etymology

Noun

Inflection

Noun

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Verb

Estonian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

References

Hungarian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

Indonesian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Alternative forms

Compounds

Further reading

Italian

Etymology

Noun

Derived terms

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Descendants

References

Middle Scots

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Noun

Etymology 2

Alternative forms