levityn.¹

Brit.

/ˈlɛvᵻti/, U.S.

/ˈlɛvədi/

Forms: 1500s levitye, 1600s levitie, 1600s– levity.

Etymology: < Old French levité = Italian levità , < Latin levitātem , levitās , < levis light: see -ity suffix.

a. As a physical quality: The quality or fact of having comparatively little weight; lightness. Also †specific levity: cf. specific gravity n. at gravity n. 4c.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [noun]

lightnessa1225

levity1598

levitation1739

the world > matter > constitution of matter > lack of density > [noun] > relative

specific levity1598

1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. 40/2 Consideringe theire ponderousnes or levitye.

1645 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 221 He abounded in things petrified,..a morsel of cork yet retaining its levity, sponges, etc.

1684 R. Boyle Exper. Porosity of Bodies iii. 85 Marble itself abounds with internal Pores..as may be rationally conjectured from the Specifick Levity of it, in comparison of Gold and Lead.

1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 26 Rain-water..comes nearest to dew in levity, subtility and purity.

1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 82 When they [vapours] ascend into that region of the atmosphere of the same specifick levity, there they float.

1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xii. 232 A covering which shall unite the qualities of warmth, levity, and least resistance to the air.

1818 M. Faraday Exper. Res. (1825) xxx. 166 The re-absorption..being..retarded in consequence of the superior levity of the fluid.

1869 M. Somerville Molecular & Microsc. Sci. i. i. 12 Hydrogen..rises in the air on account of its levity.

b. In pre-scientific physics, regarded as a positive property inherent in bodies in different degrees, or varying proportions, in virtue of which they tend to rise, as bodies possessing gravity tend to sink. Cf. gravity n. 4a. Obsolete exc. Historical or allusively.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [noun] > rising due to lightness > tendency as inherent in bodies

levity1601

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 406 That leuitie whereof they spake, can hardly and vnneath bee found and knowne by any other meanes than [etc.].

1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. i. i. §9. 12 He..gaue to euery nature his proper forme; the forme of leuitie to that which ascended.

1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. x. 81 There is no such thing among bodies, as positiue grauity or leuity.

a1687 W. Petty Polit. Anat. Ireland (1691) 334 What alterations are made in the gravity or levity of the air from hour to hour.

1775 J. Priestley Exper. & Observ. Air (ed. 2) I. 267 That phlogiston should communicate absolute levity to the bodies with which it is combined, is a supposition that I am not willing to have recourse to.

1794 G. Adams Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. III. xxxiv. 420 As paradoxical as the weighing of levity.

1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 142 We know of no natural body in which the opposite of gravity, or positive levity, subsists.

1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters (1858) 249 I had not levity enough in my framework to float across the lever.

c. figurative applied to immaterial things.

ΚΠ

1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub i. 40 Little starved Conceits, are gently wafted up by their own extreme Levity, to the middle Region.

1781 S. Johnson Prior in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VI. 45 The burlesque of Boileau's Ode on Namur has, in some parts, such airiness and levity as will always procure it readers.

†2. Lightness in movement; agility. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > bodily movement > [noun] > qualities of bodily movement > agility or nimbleness

lightnessc1350

delivernessa1382

sleightc1385

deliverancec1410

agility?a1475

deliverhead1493

nimblenessa1500

quiverness?1548

delivery1590

legerity1590

nimbless1596

levity1607

agileness1653

airiness1731

spryness1865

nippiness1916

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 329 The naturall constitution of a Horsse, is whot..because of his Leuity, and Velocity.

1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 122 The levitie of men made shift to enter thorow places scant passable.

3. As a moral or mental quality, in various senses.

a. Want of serious thought or reflexion; frivolity. Also (now chiefly), ‘Trifling gaiety’ (Johnson); unbecoming or unseasonable jocularity. (The prevalent sense.)

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > giddiness, empty-headedness > [noun]

giddiheadc1275

giddinessa1290

lighthead1340

vanityc1386

glaikitnessa1500

idleness1535

levity1564

emptiness1577

vainness1591

frivolousnessa1631

volageness1633

grollery1637

brain-giddinessa1652

desipience1656

desipiencya1682

frothinessa1716

inanity1756

frivolity1796

unpracticalness1828

unpracticality1840

bird-wittedness1854

scattiness1959

the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > light-mindedness > [noun]

lightnessc1384

levity1564

gaiety1573

light-mindedness?1574

shallowness1590

toyishness1595

lightheadedness1645

ludicrousness1664

unseriousness1672

flightiness1747

flirtishness1750

trivial-mindedness1872

the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > lack of seriousness > [noun]

levity1564

unseriousness1672

flippancy1746

flippery1819

1564 Briefe Exam. A iij As though they were ledde with a certayne irreligious leuitie, to ouerthrowe and abolyshe all thynges vsed before in religion.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. vii. 118 Our grauer businesse Frownes at this leuitie .

1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 880 I..unbosom'd all my secrets to thee, Not out of levity, but over-powr'd By thy request.

a1686 B. Calamy Serm. (1687) 6 He never employed his omnipotence out of levity or ostentation, but onely as the necessities and wants of Men required it.

1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 5 The Levity of one, and the Morosity of another.

1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 108 The subject has been treated with indecent and disgusting levity.

1830 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I III. vi. 116 It is mortifying to disclose the levity of feeling of men of genius.

1841–4 R. W. Emerson Polit. in Wks. (1906) I. 237 But politics rest on necessary foundations, and cannot be treated with levity.

1882 J. L. Watson Life A. Thomson iii. 44 He could be gay without levity.

b. Incapacity for lasting affection, resolution, or conviction; heedlessness in making and breaking promises; instability, fickleness, inconstancy.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun]

unsteadfastnessa1300

falsenessc1330

unstablenessc1380

varyingc1380

inconstancec1386

variance1390

geriness1412

instabilityc1422

changeability?a1425

mutabilitya1425

changec1425

changeableness1447

unconstancec1449

unstabilitya1470

mutableness1481

unsureness1481

instableness1483

variation1509

inconstancy1526

shittleness1530

fickleness1548

unconstancy1548

unconstantness1551

inconstantness?a1562

pliableness1562

fast and loose1575

volubility1603

levity1604

unconstability1611

flexibleness1623

vagrancy1642

self-inconsistency1655

inconsistency1665

flittingnessa1680

easiness1705

inconsistence1713

versatility1755

contrariety1762

vibration1785

changefulness1791

girouettism1825

pirouettism1839

weathercockism1843

pirouettiveness1844

volatileness1849

unfixity1856

ficklety1888

1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. Leuitie, lightnes, inconstancie.

1633 P. Fletcher Poeticall Misc. 76 in Purple Island The cause that with my verse she was offended, For womens levitie I discommended.

1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. Acts xiv. 19 This is the levity of the vulgar, that one day will sacrifice as to Gods, to those, whom after they would kill as malefactors.

1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xvii. 94 The Sarmatians soon forgot, with the levity of Barbarians, the services which they had so lately received.

1832 J.-C.-L. S. de Sismondi Hist. Ital. Republics xiv. 296 Maximilian forgot, with extreme levity, his promises and alliances.

1834 T. B. Macaulay William Pitt in Ess. (1851) 303 Sick of the perfidy and levity of the First Lord of the Treasury.

c. ‘Light’ or undignified behaviour; unbecoming freedom of conduct (said esp. of women); an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > other specific behaviour > [noun] > levity

ribaldyc1330

unsoberness1548

levity1601

unsobriety1671

gaiety1703

frivolity1796

1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. ii. sig. C2^v I know that..women of leuitie and lightnesse, are soone downe.

1699 Bp. G. Burnet Expos. 39 Articles (1700) xx. 195 Vain Pomp and indecent Levity ought to be guarded against.

1702 W. Penn in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1870) IX. 171 Give him the true state of things, and weigh down his levities.

1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 76. ⁋6 An un~becoming Levity in their Behaviour out of the Pulpit.

1732 True & Faithful Narr. in J. Swift Misc. III. ii. 265 Those innocent Freedoms and little Levities so commonly incident to young Ladies of their Profession.

1766 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women II. xii. 278 Their natural graces..are lost in levity.

1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. viii. 35 Distinguishing between a levity of this kind, and a more serious address.

1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. II. 319 So many charges of impropriety and levity.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 256 Her elder sister..had been distinguished by beauty and levity.

†d. Lightness (of spirit), freedom from care. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > pleasure > freedom from trouble, care, or sorrow > [noun]

lissOE

carelessnessc1000

restOE

peacea1225

ease?c1225

bielda1300

quietc1330

heartseasea1393

suretya1413

securitya1425

secureness1550

serenity1599

assecurance1616

euthymy1623

sereneness1628

levitya1631

repose1652

untroublednessa1660

serenitude1672

serene1744

securance1849

the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > [noun]

merrinesseOE

gladnessc900

mirtheOE

playeOE

dreamOE

gladshipc975

lissOE

willOE

hightOE

blithenessc1000

gladc1000

winOE

blissc1175

delices?c1225

delight?c1225

joy?c1225

comfortc1230

listc1275

gladhead1303

daintyc1325

fainnessc1340

lightnessa1350

delectationc1384

delightingc1390

comfortationa1400

fainheada1400

blithec1400

fainc1400

delicacyc1405

gladsomeness1413

reveriea1425

joyousitiea1450

joyfulnessc1485

jucundity1536

joyousness1549

joc1560

delightfulness1565

jouissance1579

joyance1590

levitya1631

revelling1826

chuckle1837

joyancy1849

a song in one's heart1862

delightsomeness1866

a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 83 To what a blessed levity, (if without levity we may so speake) to what a cheerefull lightnesse of spirit is he come, that comes newly from Confession.

4. A saying or expression marked by levity.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > lack of seriousness > [noun] > instance of

levity1930

1930 Blunden in Nation 6 Dec. 327/1 Coleridge, wonderfully well edited by his grandson.., lacks his epigrams and levities.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	levity
释义	levityn.¹ Brit. /ˈlɛvᵻti/, U.S. /ˈlɛvədi/ Forms: 1500s levitye, 1600s levitie, 1600s– levity. Etymology: < Old French levité = Italian levità , < Latin levitātem , levitās , < levis light: see -ity suffix. 1. a. As a physical quality: The quality or fact of having comparatively little weight; lightness. Also †specific levity: cf. specific gravity n. at gravity n. 4c. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [noun] lightnessa1225 levity1598 levitation1739 the world > matter > constitution of matter > lack of density > [noun] > relative specific levity1598 1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. 40/2 Consideringe theire ponderousnes or levitye. 1645 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 221 He abounded in things petrified,..a morsel of cork yet retaining its levity, sponges, etc. 1684 R. Boyle Exper. Porosity of Bodies iii. 85 Marble itself abounds with internal Pores..as may be rationally conjectured from the Specifick Levity of it, in comparison of Gold and Lead. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 26 Rain-water..comes nearest to dew in levity, subtility and purity. 1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 82 When they [vapours] ascend into that region of the atmosphere of the same specifick levity, there they float. 1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xii. 232 A covering which shall unite the qualities of warmth, levity, and least resistance to the air. 1818 M. Faraday Exper. Res. (1825) xxx. 166 The re-absorption..being..retarded in consequence of the superior levity of the fluid. 1869 M. Somerville Molecular & Microsc. Sci. i. i. 12 Hydrogen..rises in the air on account of its levity. b. In pre-scientific physics, regarded as a positive property inherent in bodies in different degrees, or varying proportions, in virtue of which they tend to rise, as bodies possessing gravity tend to sink. Cf. gravity n. 4a. Obsolete exc. Historical or allusively. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [noun] > rising due to lightness > tendency as inherent in bodies levity1601 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 406 That leuitie whereof they spake, can hardly and vnneath bee found and knowne by any other meanes than [etc.]. 1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. i. i. §9. 12 He..gaue to euery nature his proper forme; the forme of leuitie to that which ascended. 1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. x. 81 There is no such thing among bodies, as positiue grauity or leuity. a1687 W. Petty Polit. Anat. Ireland (1691) 334 What alterations are made in the gravity or levity of the air from hour to hour. 1775 J. Priestley Exper. & Observ. Air (ed. 2) I. 267 That phlogiston should communicate absolute levity to the bodies with which it is combined, is a supposition that I am not willing to have recourse to. 1794 G. Adams Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. III. xxxiv. 420 As paradoxical as the weighing of levity. 1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 142 We know of no natural body in which the opposite of gravity, or positive levity, subsists. 1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters (1858) 249 I had not levity enough in my framework to float across the lever. c. figurative applied to immaterial things. ΚΠ 1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub i. 40 Little starved Conceits, are gently wafted up by their own extreme Levity, to the middle Region. 1781 S. Johnson Prior in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VI. 45 The burlesque of Boileau's Ode on Namur has, in some parts, such airiness and levity as will always procure it readers. †2. Lightness in movement; agility. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > bodily movement > [noun] > qualities of bodily movement > agility or nimbleness lightnessc1350 delivernessa1382 sleightc1385 deliverancec1410 agility?a1475 deliverhead1493 nimblenessa1500 quiverness?1548 delivery1590 legerity1590 nimbless1596 levity1607 agileness1653 airiness1731 spryness1865 nippiness1916 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 329 The naturall constitution of a Horsse, is whot..because of his Leuity, and Velocity. 1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 122 The levitie of men made shift to enter thorow places scant passable. 3. As a moral or mental quality, in various senses. a. Want of serious thought or reflexion; frivolity. Also (now chiefly), ‘Trifling gaiety’ (Johnson); unbecoming or unseasonable jocularity. (The prevalent sense.) ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > giddiness, empty-headedness > [noun] giddiheadc1275 giddinessa1290 lighthead1340 vanityc1386 glaikitnessa1500 idleness1535 levity1564 emptiness1577 vainness1591 frivolousnessa1631 volageness1633 grollery1637 brain-giddinessa1652 desipience1656 desipiencya1682 frothinessa1716 inanity1756 frivolity1796 unpracticalness1828 unpracticality1840 bird-wittedness1854 scattiness1959 the mind > attention and judgement > inattention > mental wandering > light-mindedness > [noun] lightnessc1384 levity1564 gaiety1573 light-mindedness?1574 shallowness1590 toyishness1595 lightheadedness1645 ludicrousness1664 unseriousness1672 flightiness1747 flirtishness1750 trivial-mindedness1872 the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > lack of seriousness > [noun] levity1564 unseriousness1672 flippancy1746 flippery1819 1564 Briefe Exam. A iij As though they were ledde with a certayne irreligious leuitie, to ouerthrowe and abolyshe all thynges vsed before in religion. a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. vii. 118 Our grauer businesse Frownes at this leuitie . View more context for this quotation 1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 880 I..unbosom'd all my secrets to thee, Not out of levity, but over-powr'd By thy request. View more context for this quotation a1686 B. Calamy Serm. (1687) 6 He never employed his omnipotence out of levity or ostentation, but onely as the necessities and wants of Men required it. 1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. i. 5 The Levity of one, and the Morosity of another. 1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 108 The subject has been treated with indecent and disgusting levity. 1830 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I III. vi. 116 It is mortifying to disclose the levity of feeling of men of genius. 1841–4 R. W. Emerson Polit. in Wks. (1906) I. 237 But politics rest on necessary foundations, and cannot be treated with levity. 1882 J. L. Watson Life A. Thomson iii. 44 He could be gay without levity. b. Incapacity for lasting affection, resolution, or conviction; heedlessness in making and breaking promises; instability, fickleness, inconstancy. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] unsteadfastnessa1300 falsenessc1330 unstablenessc1380 varyingc1380 inconstancec1386 variance1390 geriness1412 instabilityc1422 changeability?a1425 mutabilitya1425 changec1425 changeableness1447 unconstancec1449 unstabilitya1470 mutableness1481 unsureness1481 instableness1483 variation1509 inconstancy1526 shittleness1530 fickleness1548 unconstancy1548 unconstantness1551 inconstantness?a1562 pliableness1562 fast and loose1575 volubility1603 levity1604 unconstability1611 flexibleness1623 vagrancy1642 self-inconsistency1655 inconsistency1665 flittingnessa1680 easiness1705 inconsistence1713 versatility1755 contrariety1762 vibration1785 changefulness1791 girouettism1825 pirouettism1839 weathercockism1843 pirouettiveness1844 volatileness1849 unfixity1856 ficklety1888 1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet. Leuitie, lightnes, inconstancie. 1633 P. Fletcher Poeticall Misc. 76 in Purple Island The cause that with my verse she was offended, For womens levitie I discommended. 1685 R. Baxter Paraphr. New Test. Acts xiv. 19 This is the levity of the vulgar, that one day will sacrifice as to Gods, to those, whom after they would kill as malefactors. 1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall II. xvii. 94 The Sarmatians soon forgot, with the levity of Barbarians, the services which they had so lately received. 1832 J.-C.-L. S. de Sismondi Hist. Ital. Republics xiv. 296 Maximilian forgot, with extreme levity, his promises and alliances. 1834 T. B. Macaulay William Pitt in Ess. (1851) 303 Sick of the perfidy and levity of the First Lord of the Treasury. c. ‘Light’ or undignified behaviour; unbecoming freedom of conduct (said esp. of women); an instance of this. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > other specific behaviour > [noun] > levity ribaldyc1330 unsoberness1548 levity1601 unsobriety1671 gaiety1703 frivolity1796 1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. ii. sig. C2^v I know that..women of leuitie and lightnesse, are soone downe. 1699 Bp. G. Burnet Expos. 39 Articles (1700) xx. 195 Vain Pomp and indecent Levity ought to be guarded against. 1702 W. Penn in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1870) IX. 171 Give him the true state of things, and weigh down his levities. 1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 76. ⁋6 An un~becoming Levity in their Behaviour out of the Pulpit. 1732 True & Faithful Narr. in J. Swift Misc. III. ii. 265 Those innocent Freedoms and little Levities so commonly incident to young Ladies of their Profession. 1766 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women II. xii. 278 Their natural graces..are lost in levity. 1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. viii. 35 Distinguishing between a levity of this kind, and a more serious address. 1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. II. 319 So many charges of impropriety and levity. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 256 Her elder sister..had been distinguished by beauty and levity. †d. Lightness (of spirit), freedom from care. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > pleasure > freedom from trouble, care, or sorrow > [noun] lissOE carelessnessc1000 restOE peacea1225 ease?c1225 bielda1300 quietc1330 heartseasea1393 suretya1413 securitya1425 secureness1550 serenity1599 assecurance1616 euthymy1623 sereneness1628 levitya1631 repose1652 untroublednessa1660 serenitude1672 serene1744 securance1849 the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > [noun] merrinesseOE gladnessc900 mirtheOE playeOE dreamOE gladshipc975 lissOE willOE hightOE blithenessc1000 gladc1000 winOE blissc1175 delices?c1225 delight?c1225 joy?c1225 comfortc1230 listc1275 gladhead1303 daintyc1325 fainnessc1340 lightnessa1350 delectationc1384 delightingc1390 comfortationa1400 fainheada1400 blithec1400 fainc1400 delicacyc1405 gladsomeness1413 reveriea1425 joyousitiea1450 joyfulnessc1485 jucundity1536 joyousness1549 joc1560 delightfulness1565 jouissance1579 joyance1590 levitya1631 revelling1826 chuckle1837 joyancy1849 a song in one's heart1862 delightsomeness1866 a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 83 To what a blessed levity, (if without levity we may so speake) to what a cheerefull lightnesse of spirit is he come, that comes newly from Confession. 4. A saying or expression marked by levity. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > causing laughter > lack of seriousness > [noun] > instance of levity1930 1930 Blunden in Nation 6 Dec. 327/1 Coleridge, wonderfully well edited by his grandson.., lacks his epigrams and levities. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † levityn.² Etymology: < Latin lēvitāt-em, lēvitās, < lēvis smooth. Obsolete. rare. Smoothness; an instance of this, a smooth surface. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [noun] > smooth part or surface smooth1551 planitude1598 levity1613 smoothness1674 1613 M. Ridley Short Treat. Magneticall Bodies 20 Unlesse they be drawne aside by excrescenses and levities. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online June 2021). < n.¹1564n.²1613
随便看	close the book on close the books close the books on close the door close the door upon close the maw co-covenantor co-create co-created co-creating co-creator co-creators co-creatorship co-creditor co-crucify co-debtor co-decision co-declination co-decree co-defendant co-defendants co-deify co-delight co-delinquent co-denization

levityn.1

† levityn.2

levityn.¹

† levityn.²