elevar

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēlevāre (“to raise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ə.ləˈβa]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ə.ləˈva]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [e.leˈvaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [e.leˈβa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

elevar (first-person singular present elevo, first-person singular preterite eleví, past participle elevat); root stress: (Northern) /e̞/; (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /e/

1. to elevate, raise, raise up
2. (pronomial) to go up, rise

Conjugation

    Central Catalan conjugation of elevar (first conjugation)

infinitive			elevar
gerund			elevant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		elevat		elevada
		plural		elevats		elevades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	elevo	eleves	eleva	elevem	eleveu	eleven
	imperfect	elevava	elevaves	elevava	elevàvem	elevàveu	elevaven
	future	elevaré	elevaràs	elevarà	elevarem	elevareu	elevaran
	preterite	eleví	elevares	elevà	elevàrem	elevàreu	elevaren
	conditional	elevaria	elevaries	elevaria	elevaríem	elevaríeu	elevarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	elevi	elevis	elevi	elevem	eleveu	elevin
	imperfect	elevés	elevessis	elevés	elevéssim	elevéssiu	elevessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	eleva	elevi	elevem	eleveu	elevin
	negative (no)	—	no elevis	no elevi	no elevem	no eleveu	no elevin

Related terms

• elevació

Further reading

• “elevar”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “elevar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “elevar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “elevar”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

elevar m

1. indefinite plural of elev

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs

Proto-Italic *eks

Latin ex

Latin ex-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-us

Proto-Indo-European *h₁léngʰus

▲

Proto-Italic *breɣʷisinflu.

Proto-Italic *leɣʷis

Latin levis

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin levō

Latin ēlevārelbor.

Portuguese elevar

Learned borrowing from Latin ēlevāre (“to raise”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.leˈva(ʁ)/ [e.leˈva(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /e.leˈva(ʁ)/ [e.leˈva(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /e.leˈva(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /e.leˈva(ʁ)/ [e.leˈva(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /e.leˈva(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /i.lɨˈvaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /i.lɨˈvaɾ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /i.lɨˈbaɾ/ [i.lɨˈβaɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /i.lɨˈva.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: e‧le‧var

Verb

elevar (first-person singular present elevo, first-person singular preterite elevei, past participle elevado)

1. to raise; to lift (to bring or take upwards)

   Synonyms: alçar, alcear, erguer, içar, levantar

   Antonym: baixar

2. to increase (to make a value or quantity larger)

   Synonym: aumentar

   Antonym: diminuir

3. (figurative) to put on a pedestal (to hold in very high esteem)
4. (reflexive) to tower over; to loom over

Conjugation

    Conjugation of elevar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	elevar
Personal	elevar	elevares	elevar	elevarmos	elevardes	elevarem
Gerund
	elevando
Past participle
Masculine	elevado			elevados
Feminine	elevada			elevadas
Indicative
Present	elevo	elevas	eleva	elevamos	elevais	elevam
Imperfect	elevava	elevavas	elevava	elevávamos	eleváveis	elevavam
Preterite	elevei	elevaste	elevou	elevamos1, elevámos2	elevastes	elevaram
Pluperfect	elevara	elevaras	elevara	eleváramos	eleváreis	elevaram
Future	elevarei	elevarás	elevará	elevaremos	elevareis	elevarão
Conditional	elevaria	elevarias	elevaria	elevaríamos	elevaríeis	elevariam
Subjunctive
Present	eleve	eleves	eleve	elevemos	eleveis	elevem
Imperfect	elevasse	elevasses	elevasse	elevássemos	elevásseis	elevassem
Future	elevar	elevares	elevar	elevarmos	elevardes	elevarem
Imperative
Affirmative		eleva	eleve	elevemos	elevai	elevem
Negative (não)		não eleves	não eleve	não elevemos	não eleveis	não elevem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• elevação
• elevadamente
• elevadiço
• elevado
• elevador
• elevamento

Further reading

• “elevar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “elevar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs

Proto-Italic *eks

Latin ex

Latin ex-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-us

Proto-Indo-European *h₁léngʰus

▲

Proto-Italic *breɣʷisinflu.

Proto-Italic *leɣʷis

Latin levis

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin levō

Latin ēlevārelbor.

Spanish elevar

Learned borrowing from Latin ēlevāre (“to raise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eleˈbaɾ/ [e.leˈβ̞aɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: e‧le‧var

Verb

elevar (first-person singular present elevo, first-person singular preterite elevé, past participle elevado)

1. to elevate
2. to raise; lift up
   • 2020 October 11, Alejandro Ciriza, El País‎^[1], archived from the original on 5 December 2025:

     Rafael Nadal eleva, con mascarilla, su 13ª Copa de los Mosqueteros en un ambiente que nada tiene que ver con el de otras ocasiones.

     Rafael Nadal, wearing a mask, lifts up his 13th Musketeers' Trophy in at atmosphere nothing like any other times.

3. (mathematics) to raise (a number) (to a power)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of elevar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			elevar
gerund			elevando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		elevado		elevada
		plural		elevados		elevadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	elevo	elevastú elevásvos	eleva	elevamos	eleváis	elevan
	imperfect	elevaba	elevabas	elevaba	elevábamos	elevabais	elevaban
	preterite	elevé	elevaste	elevó	elevamos	elevasteis	elevaron
	future	elevaré	elevarás	elevará	elevaremos	elevaréis	elevarán
	conditional	elevaría	elevarías	elevaría	elevaríamos	elevaríais	elevarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	eleve	elevestú elevésvos2	eleve	elevemos	elevéis	eleven
	imperfect (ra)	elevara	elevaras	elevara	eleváramos	elevarais	elevaran
	imperfect (se)	elevase	elevases	elevase	elevásemos	elevaseis	elevasen
	future1	elevare	elevares	elevare	eleváremos	elevareis	elevaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		elevatú elevávos	eleve	elevemos	elevad	eleven
	negative		no eleves	no eleve	no elevemos	no elevéis	no eleven

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of elevar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive elevar	dative	elevarme	elevarte	elevarle, elevarse	elevarnos	elevaros	elevarles, elevarse
	accusative	elevarme	elevarte	elevarlo, elevarla, elevarse	elevarnos	elevaros	elevarlos, elevarlas, elevarse
with gerund elevando	dative	elevándome	elevándote	elevándole, elevándose	elevándonos	elevándoos	elevándoles, elevándose
	accusative	elevándome	elevándote	elevándolo, elevándola, elevándose	elevándonos	elevándoos	elevándolos, elevándolas, elevándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative eleva	dative	elévame	elévate	elévale	elévanos	not used	elévales
	accusative	elévame	elévate	elévalo, elévala	elévanos	not used	elévalos, elévalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative elevá	dative	elevame	elevate	elevale	elevanos	not used	elevales
	accusative	elevame	elevate	elevalo, elevala	elevanos	not used	elevalos, elevalas
with formal second-person singular imperative eleve	dative	eléveme	not used	elévele, elévese	elévenos	not used	eléveles
	accusative	eléveme	not used	elévelo, elévela, elévese	elévenos	not used	elévelos, elévelas
with first-person plural imperative elevemos	dative	not used	elevémoste	elevémosle	elevémonos	elevémoos	elevémosles
	accusative	not used	elevémoste	elevémoslo, elevémosla	elevémonos	elevémoos	elevémoslos, elevémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative elevad	dative	elevadme	not used	elevadle	elevadnos	elevaos	elevadles
	accusative	elevadme	not used	elevadlo, elevadla	elevadnos	elevaos	elevadlos, elevadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative eleven	dative	elévenme	not used	elévenle	elévennos	not used	elévenles, elévense
	accusative	elévenme	not used	elévenlo, elévenla	elévennos	not used	elévenlos, elévenlas, elévense

Derived terms

• elevalunas
• elevamiento
• elevar al cuadrado
• elevar al cubo
• elevavidrios

Related terms

• elevación
• elevador

Further reading

• “elevar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026