Elevate first originated as two words in old Latin. Beginning as the prefix ex-, meaning out or away, and levis, meaning light. Latin eventually dropped the x in ex and created levare from levis to mean "lighten". Both words combined to become elevare, roughly translating to “to make light”. Elevare become elevat- in late Latin, meaning “raised”. Middle English eventually adopted the word as eleuate, and by 1762 (when V and U earned distinction as two different letters), the word became elevate.
Elevate first entered English as an adjective back in the 14th century. Long since dying out, the original meaning of the word was “above”. It was not until over 100 years later that elevate took on a transitive verb definition, meaning "to lighten or lessen". This definition dies out by the late 1700s. Also beginning in the 15th century was today's definition of elevate, meaning “to raise or lift up to a higher position”. Elevate has become such a popular word in the English language that in 2019 it was named the Word of the Year by WordNerdopolis.
Cornell football will look to elevate this week, bringing the work they put into all their tasks to the next level. Work that was okay needs to be good. Work that was good needs to be great. Every time the team looks to accomplish any task, the Big Red will continue to elevate itself in all aspects, always resetting the expectation and elevating to the next one.
