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Today's Word "Levant"

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Published in Vocabulary

levant \leh-VAHNT\ (verb) - To leave hurriedly and secretly to avoid unpleasantness.

"Jason and Marge took advantage of their parents' temporary absence and levanted to Las Vegas to get married."

 

From Spanish levantar as in levantar el campamento "to break camp." The word derives from Latin levare "to lift, raise" akin to "alleviate," "elevate," and "levitate." The root of the Latin verb is levis "light, not heavy." This is chiefly a British word, but deserves to be brought into wider use among English speakers. It inhabits a higher lexical plane than the US term of the 40's and 50's: "take it on the lam," though the meanings are similar.


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