level

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A position on a scale that shows how much, how high, or how good something is.

   The water rose to a dangerous level after the heavy rain.

2. 2
   noun

   A floor of a building.

   Her office is on the fifth level.

3. 3
   adj

   Flat and even, with no part higher than another.

   Make sure the shelf is level before you fix it to the wall.

4. 4
   noun

   The height that something reaches.

   The snow reached the level of my knees.

5. 5
   verb

   to make a surface flat and even

   Workers will level the ground before laying the path.

Multiword verbs with level

• level off Phrasal verb A2

  to become flat after a slope

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Level entered Middle English from Latin libella, a diminutive of libra, meaning “scales” or “balance.” Its earliest English sense was an instrument used to determine whether a surface is horizontal.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *leyH-der. Proto-Indo-European *-dʰromder. Proto-Italic *līðrā? Latin lībra Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin libella Old French nivel Old French livelbor. Middle English level English level From Middle English level, from Old French livel, liveau m, later nivel, niveau, from Latin libella f (“a balance, a level”), diminutive of libra f (“a balance, a level”); see libra, librate. Doublet of libella and niveau. The verb is from Middle English levelen, from the noun.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary