The Spanish levantar –“to rise” (in all senses: to rise in the morning when you wake up, the sun rises, etc) — sounds pretty random. Nothing to do with rising up, right?
It turns out to be from the Latin root levare, from which we get a whole host of words that, in different senses, imply the same. These include:
- Leaven — as in, leaven bread: the bread rises!
- Lever — the lever is what you use to raise something!
- Carnival — the “carne” is from the Latin caro used for “meat” while the -val comes from the same levare. Yes, a carnival is about rising flesh!
- Relief, Relieve — these words literally mean: to lighten up!
- Elevate — Yes, the elevator takes you up!
