levitation
See also: lévitation
English
A hoax originally introduced as a demonstration of telekinesis by French spirit photographer Édouard Isidore Buguet (1840-1901).
Etymology
levitate + -ion, from Latin levitas (“lightness”), patterned in English on gravitate.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Noun
levitation (countable and uncountable, plural levitations)
- The raising of something, such as a body, without apparent physical cause, allegedly using the power of the mind
- The suspension of something via technical means without any mechanical support, such as by magnetism
- 1972, Lytle Robinson, chapter 4, in Edgar Cayceʼs Story of the Origin and Destiny of Man, USA: Berkley Publishing Corporation, page 90:
- It was erected by the application of those universal laws and forces of nature which cause iron to float. By the same laws, gravity may be overcome or neutralized, and stone made to float in air. The Pyramid was thus built by levitation, abetted by song and chanting, much in the same manner in which the Druids of England set up their huge stones at a later period.
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Translations
raising of something without apparent physical cause
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technical suspension without mechanical support
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- buoyancy
Further reading
Anagrams
- velitation