lever

Lever comes from Middle English lever, from Old French leveor/leveur, meaning "a lifter," which traces back to Latin levātor, "a lifter," from levō, "to raise."

The word has stayed close to its roots throughout — it named a lifting device in Old French and still names one today.

Lever is a doublet of levator, the anatomical term for a muscle that lifts — both descend from the same Latin levātor.