lever
LEV-er · noun
Origin
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."
This is Curio: one word's origin story, every morning. No feed, no backlog.
One short email each morning. Free; stop anytime. See a sample →
Journey
The word has stayed close to its roots throughout — it named a lifting device in Old French and still names one today.
Related words
Lever is a doublet of levator, the anatomical term for a muscle that lifts — both descend from the same Latin levātor.