levigate 
p6f, for *).eFp6f ), smooth, + agere, do, make : see 
act.] 1. To rub or grind to a fine impalpable 
powder, as in a mortar. See levigatioii. 
The massicot [protoxid of lead] ... is removed, 
ground, and levigated. . . . The product is minium, or 
red-lead. Spans' Encyc. Mamif., p. 1560. 
2f. To plane ; polish ; make smooth. 
When use hath levigated the organs, and made the way 
so smooth and easie that the spirits pass without any stop, 
those objects are no longer felt. Harrow, Works, III. ix. 
Levigating-maehine, levigating-mill, a mortar hav- 
ing a pestle fitted with a crank ana mounted in a frame, 
for convenience in grinding drugs, paints, etc. 
levigate 1 (lev'i-gat), a. [= It. levigato = Pg. 
levigado, < L. levigatus, pp. of levigare, make 
smooth: see the verb.] Smooth as if polished ; 
having a polished surface: applied in botany 
to leaves, seeds, etc. Also hevigate. 
levigate 2 (lev'i-gat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. levi- 
gated, ppr. levigating. [< L. lerigatus, made 
light, pp. of Ui-igare, make light, < lcis, light (see 
levity), + agere, do: see act.] To lighten ; make 
light of ; belittle the importance of. [Rare.] 
Makes logic levigate the big crime small. 
Browning, Ring and Book, I. 42. 
levigate 2 (lev'i-gat), a. [< L. levigatus, pp.: see 
levigate 2 , v.] Lightened; alleviated. [Bare.] 
Wherby his labours being leuiyate, and made more tol- 
lerable, he shal gouerne with the better aduyse. 
Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, 1. 2. 
levigation (lev-i-ga'shou), n. [= F. levigatiot/ 
= Sp. tevigacion = Pg. levigagito = It. leviga- 
zione, < L. levigatio(n-), a smoothing, < levigare, 
pp. levigatus, make smooth : see levigate*, v.] 
The act or operation of grinding or rubbing a 
solid substance to a fine impalpable powder. 
A mortar and pestle are commonly used in the process, 
and it is completed by allowing the coarser particles to 
settle in water, then decanting the latter, letting it stand 
till the fine powder has fallen to the bottom, and finally 
pouring off the water. In the chemical analysis of min- 
erals this process is repeated until the mineral has been 
reduced to a sufficient degree of fineness, the coarser part 
being subjected to further pulverization after each sepa- 
ration by the aid of the water. 
Ievin 1 t, See leven 1 . 
Ievin 2 t, n. An obsolete variant of leaven. 
levine, n. See levyne. 
levipede (lev'i-ped), . [< L. levis, smooth, 4- 
pes (peel-), foot.] Smooth-footed. 
levirate (lev'i-rat), n. [= Sp. levirato, < NL. 
leviratus, (. L. levir (= Gr. <!///>, orig. *fiaFr/p, = 
Skt. devara = AS. tacor = OHG. zeihhur), a hus- 
band's brother, + -atus, E. -ate 3 .} The in- 
stitution of marriage between a man and the 
widow of his brother or nearest kinsman under 
certain circumstances. Among the ancient Hebrews 
such marriage was required in case the brother died child- 
less, for the purpose of continuing his family, the first- 
born son being the heir of the deceased husband. (Deut. 
xxv. 5-10 ; see also Mat. xxii. 24-26.) From the book of 
Ruth it appears that the obligation rested upon the near- 
est kinsman of the husband if there was no brother. It 
was counted disgraceful for a man to refuse to submit him- 
self to it. A similar custom prevails in parts of India. 
An institution . . . known commonly as the levirate, 
but called by the Hindus, in its more general form, the 
Niyoga. Maine, Early Law and Custom, p. 100. 
leviratic (lev-i-rat'ik), a. [< levirate + -ic.~] 
Pertaining to the levirate. 
leviratical (lev-i-rat'i-kal), a. [< leviratic + 
-al.] Same as leviratic. " 
The first-born son of a leviratical marriage was reckoned 
and registered as the son of the deceased brother. 
Dean Alford. 
leviration (lev-i-ra'shon), . [Irreg. < levirate 
+ -ion.] Leviratic marriage. 
Levirostres (lev-i-ros'trez). n. pi. [NL., < L. 
levis, light, + rostrum, beak.] In ornith.: (a) 
In Merrem's classification, a group of birds, 
including the toucans, parrots, and some others, 
approximately equivalent to the order Psittaci 
plus the family Rhamphastidte of modern au- 
thors. (6) In Blyth's system (1846), a series 
or superfamily group of his Picoides, consisting 
of the toucans, touracous, and colies, or Bham- 
phasticUe, Mnsophagidie, and Coliidce. 
Levisticum (le-vis'ti-kum), u. [NL. (W. D. 
J. Koch, 1825) : see Ligusticum and lovage.] A 
fenus of umbelliferous plants of the tribe Sese- 
nece and the subtribe Angeliceie, closely related 
to Angelica and Archangelica,'b\ii having the lat- 
eral wings of the fruit thickened. It embraces 
only a single species, L. officinale, the garden 
lovage. See lovage. 
levitate (lev'i-tat), . ; pret. and pp. levitated, 
ppr. levitating. [< L. levita(t-)s, lightness (see 
levity), + -ate 2 .] I. traits. To cause to become 
buoyant in the atmosphere ; make light, so as 
to cause to float in the air; deprive of normal 
gravity. 
3428 
II. intrans. To act or move by force of levity 
that is, by a repulsive force, contrary to grav- 
ity ; overcome the force of gravity by means of 
specific lightness: especially, in recent use, said 
of a body heavier than the air, but supposed 
to rise in it by spiritual means. 
That distinction between gravitating and levitating mat- 
ter ... which the phenomena of their [comets'] tails 
afford. Herschel, Pop. Lects., p. 140. 
It is asserted that a man or a woman levitated to the 
ceiling, floated about there, and finally sailed out by the 
window. Huxley, Nineteenth Century, XXI. 201. 
levitation (lev-i-ta'shon), n. [< levitate + -ion.'] 
1 . The act of making light ; lightness ; buoy- 
ancy. 
The lungs also of birds, as compared with the lungs of 
quadrupeds, contain in them a provision distinguishlngly 
calculated for this same purpose of levitation. 
Paley, Nat. Theol., xii. 6. 
2. Among Spiritualists, the alleged phenomenon 
of bodies heavier than air being by spiritual 
means rendered buoyant in the atmosphere. 
The levitation in this case was by the bound Shaman In 
one lodge being found unbound in the other. 
Science, XI. 270. 
levitator (lev'i-ta-tor), n. [< levitat(ion) + 
-or.] One who believes in the supposed spir- 
itualistic phenomena of levitation, or professes 
to be able to exhibit them. 
Theoretically, therefore, we can have no sort of objec- 
tion to your miracle. And our reply to the levitators is 
just the same. Why should not your friend "levitate " ? 
Huxley, Nineteenth Century, XXI. 202. 
Levite (le'vit), . [= F. Levite = Sp. Pg. It. 
Levita, < LL. Levites, Levita, < Gr. Acwn?f, a 
Levite, < Heb. Led, one of the sons of Jacob.] 
1. In Jewish hist., a descendant of Levi, one of 
the sons of Jacob; one of the tribe of Levi. 
I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the 
children of Israel ; to you they are given as a gift for the 
Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congrega- 
tion. Num. xviii. 8. 
2. Specifically, one of a body of assistants to 
the priests in the tabernacle and temple service 
of the Jews. This body was composed of all males of 
the tribe of Levi between 30 (or 25) and 50 years of age, 
exclusive of the family of Aaron, which constituted the 
priesthood. Originally they guarded the tabernacle, and 
assisted in carrying it and its vessels, and in preparing the 
corn, wine, oil, etc., for sacrifice ; they furnished the mu- 
sic at the services, and had charge of the sacred treasures 
and revenues. After the settlement in Palestine they were 
relieved of some of these duties, but assumed those of reli- 
gious guides and teachers. Later they were also the learned 
class, and became scribes, judges, etc. They were allowed 
no territorial possessions, except thirty-five cities in which 
they lived, supported by tithes on the produce of the lands 
of the tribes. The Levites were divided into three fami- 
lies, which bore the names of the sons of Levi the Ger- 
shonites, the Kohathites, and the Merarites. 
No Protestant, I suppose, will liken one of our .Ministers 
to a High Priest, but rather to a common Levite. 
Milton, Touching Hirelings. 
Hence 3. In the early Christian churcli, a 
deacon as distinguished from a priest. 4f. A 
priest; a clergyman: often in slight contempt. 
A young Levite such was the phrase then in use 
might be had for his board, a small garret, and ten pounds 
a year. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. 
5f. A fashionable dress for women, introduced 
about 1780. It was satirized by Horace Wai- 
pole as resembling " a man's night-gown bound 
round with a belt." 
Levitic (le-vit'ik), a. [= F. levitique = Sp. 
levitico = Pg. It. levitico, < LL. leviticus, per- 
taining to the Levites, < Levites, Levita, Levite : 
see Levite."] Same as Levitical. 
Levitical (le-vit'i-kal), . [< Levitic + -al] 
1 . Of, pertaining to, or peculiar to the Levites. 
2. Of, pertaining to, or contained in the book 
of Leviticus: as, tie Levitical law. 
By the levitical law, both the man and the woman were 
stoned to death : so heinous a crime was adultery. 
Ayliffe, Parergon. 
3. Priestly. [Bare.] 
Austin . . . sent to Rome ... to acquaint the pope of 
his good success in England, and to be resolved of certain 
theological, or rather levitical, questions. 
MUtan, Hist. Eng., iv. 
Leyitlcal degrees, degrees of kindred named in Lev. 
xviii. fi-18, within which persons were prohibited to mar- 
ry. Levitical law, that part of the Mosaic law which 
related to the Levites ; hence, that part which regulated 
the Jewish worship and ritual. 
Levitically (le-vit'i-kal-i), adv. After the mau- 
ner_of the Levites or of the Levitical law. 
Leviticus (le-vit'i-kus), n. [LL., prop, adj., sc. 
liber, the book of the Levites : see Levitic.] A 
canonical book of the Old Testament, the third 
book of Moses or of the Pentateuch, containing 
principally the laws and regulations relating to 
the priests and Levites and toreligious ceremo- 
nies, or the body of the ceremonial law. Ab- 
breviated Lev. 
levy 
Levitism (le'vlt-izm), . [< Levite + -ism.] 
The doctrines and practices of the Levites. 
leviton (lev'i-tqn), 11. [ML. levito(n-), a sleeve- 
less robe.] A sleeveless robe worn by Egyptian 
monks. 
levity (ley'i-ti), n. [= OF. levite = Sp. levidad 
= Pg. levidade = It. levita, < L. levita(t-)s, light- 
ness, < levis, light, akin to Gr. i^ax'vf, light, and 
to E. light'*, q. v.] 1. Lightness of weight; rel- 
atively small specific gravity. 
Their extreme minuteness and levity enable them [coni- 
dia] to be dispersed and carried about by the slightest cur- 
rents of air. Huxley, Biology, v. 
2. A tendency to rise by a force contrary to 
gravity. 
For positive levity, till I see It better proved than it hath 
hitherto been, I allow no such thing planted in sublunary 
bodies, the prepollent gravity of some sufficing to give 
others comparative or respective lightness. 
Boyle, Notion of Nature, 5. 
The simple rise as by specific levity, not into a particu- 
lar virtue, but into the region of all the virtues. 
Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 250. 
3. Lightness of spirit or temper. Specifically 
(at) Cheerfulness ; ease of mind. 
To what a blessed levity, ... to what a cheerful light- 
ness of spirit is he come that comes newly from confes- 
sion, and with the seal of absolution upon him! 
Donne, Sermons, xxiv. 
(6) Carelessness of temper or conduct ; want of serious- 
ness; disposition to trifle; inconstancy; volatility: as, 
the levity of youth. 
The Censor, frowning upon him, told him that he ought 
not to discover so much levity in matters of a serious na- 
ture. Addison, Trial of Ladies' Quarrels. 
= Syn. 3(6). Levity, Volatility, Flightiness, Frivolity, Light- 
ness. All these words are founded upon the idea of the 
lack of physical and, by figure, of mental and moral sub- 
stance or weight, with a resulting ease in flying away from 
what is wise. The first three refer especially to outward 
conduct. Levity is a want of seriousness, temporary or 
habitual, a disposition to trifle with important interests. 
Volatility is that moral defect by which one cannot dwell 
long upon any one object of thought, or turns quickly 
from one source of pleasure to another: the word does 
not convey much opprobrium ; in the young some degree 
of volatility is expected. Flightiness borders upon the loss 
of sanity In caprice or excitement of fancy ; it is volatility 
in an extreme degree. Frivolity is a matter of nature, an 
inability to care about any but the most petty and trifling 
things. Lightness is not so strong as frivolity, but covers 
nearly the same ground ; it emphasizes inconstancy. 
levoglucose, laevoglucose (le-vo-glu'kos), . 
[< L. laivus, left, + E. glucose, q. v.J In cJtem., 
same as lemdose. 
levogyrate, Isevogyrate (le-vo-ji'rat), a. [< 
L. Icevns, left, + gyratus, pp. of gyrare, turn 
round in a circle: see gyre, '., gyrate.] Caus- 
ing to turn toward the left hand : as, a levogy- 
rate crystal that is, one that turns the rays to 
the right in the polarization of light. See dex- 
trogyrate. 
If the analyser [a slice of quartz] has to be turned towards 
the right so as to cause the colours to succeed each other 
in their natural order red, orange, yellow, green, blue, 
indigo, violet the piece of quartz is called right-handed, 
or dextrogyrate. If, however, the analyser has to be turned 
from right to left to obtain the natural order of colours, 
the quartz is called left-handed or levogyrate. Haydn. 
levogyration, Isevogyration (le"vo-ji-ra'- 
shon), TO. [< L. Itevus, left, + ML. gyratio(n-), 
gyration : see gyration.] Botation of the plane 
of polarization to the left. See polarization. 
levogyrous, laevogyrous (le - vo - ji ' rus), a. [< 
L. lan'us, left, + gyrus, a turn, gyre: see gyre.] 
Same as levogyrate. 
levorotatory.laevorotatoryOe-vo-ro'ta-to-ri), 
a. [< L. Iwvus, left, + "rotatoritis, turning: see 
rotatory.] Same as levogyrate. 
levulin (lev'u-lin), n. [As leviil(ose) + -iifi.] 
A carbohydrate (CgHj O g ) occurring in the 
tubers of certain species of Helianthvs. 
levulinic (lev-u-lin'ik), a. [< tevitlin + -ic.] 
Derived from levulin Levulinic acid, an acid 
(C5Hs0 3 ) obtained from levulin, levulose. cane-sugar, cel- 
lulose, and other similar substances, by boiling with a di- 
lute mineral acid. It is a crystalline body.soluble in water. 
levulose, laevulose (lev'u-los), n. [< L. lan-us, 
left, + -te + -osc.] A sugar (CgHjoOg) iso- 
meric with dextrose, but distinguished from it 
by turning the plane of polarization to the left. 
It occurs associated with dextrose in honey, in many fruits, 
and in other vegetable tissues. The mixture of these two 
sugars in equal quantities constitutes invert-sugar, which 
itself turns the plane of polarization to the left, the specific 
rotatory power of levulose being greater than that of dex- 
trose. It is usually a thick syrup, having a taste as sweet 
as that of cane-sugar ; it crystallizes with difficulty. Also 
called .fruit-suyar. 
levy 1 (lev'i), w.; pi. levies (-iz). [Early mod. 
E. also Icavy; < ME. levy, levey, < OF. levee, F. 
levee, a raising, an embankment (see levee 1 ), 
rising, breaking up, removal, a raising (of 
troops, of taxes, etc.), = Sp. levada, a rising, 
attack, = Pg. levada, a current of water, trans- 
