English
level
Level comes from Middle English level, from Old French livel, from Latin libella ‘a balance, a level’, diminutive of lībra ‘a balance’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElībra‘a balance, a level’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElibella‘a balance, a level’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400livel
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500level
- Englishearliest quotation 1591same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElībra‘a balance, a level’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElibella‘a balance, a level’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400livel
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500level
- Englishearliest quotation 1591same form
Earliest quotation: 1591, Edmund Spenser, Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.: “For all his mind on honour fixed is, /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *līðrā ‘the weight of an ingot’
through Latin lībra ‘scales, a tool used to balance two weights to…’
deliberate, equilibrium, lira, libra, deliberation, deliberative, 8 more
Today it means
adj The same height at all places; parallel to a flat ground.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin lībra / level