What does levitated mean?
Levitated is the past tense and past participle of levitate, meaning to rise into the air or remain suspended without apparent support. It commonly describes stage magic, supernatural imagery, and the movement of lightweight objects. The word can also be used scientifically for particles or materials held above a surface by physical forces such as air currents or electromagnetic fields. Because levitate suggests an absence of ordinary visible support, it often conveys wonder, illusion, or a striking departure from normal physical behavior. In the sentence “The magician levitated a glass,” the form is a finite past-tense verb; in “the levitated glass,” it functions as a participle modifying the noun. The related noun levitation names the act or phenomenon of floating or being suspended, while levity derives from the same broad Latin association with lightness.
verb (past tense and past participle)Levitated means rose or caused to rise into the air, often by suspending or floating without visible support. It can describe a person, object, or particle hovering above a surface.
- Rose or moved upward into the air, as if floating without visible support.
- Caused something to rise or remain suspended above a surface.
"The magician levitated a glass above his open palm."
"The balloon levitated several feet above the grass."
"The machine levitated the model while it was being inspected."
Levitation has long been associated with stage magic, but the word also describes a real physical effect in which sufficiently light objects can hover or be suspended by airflow.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does levitated come from?
The family of levitate comes through Latin levitas, meaning lightness, from levis, light. The English verb levitate was formed from Latin levitare, meaning to make light or raise, and entered English in the early 17th century. Its later association with magical flotation followed longstanding traditions in which people and objects could be raised or suspended by unseen forces. The related word levity continues the sense of lightness in a figurative, intellectual context.
Related word forms
How levitated is actually used
Levitated is usually used for a person or object that appears to float or hover. In technical contexts, it may describe a particle or other material held in suspension by electromagnetic, acoustic, or aerodynamic forces.