level
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈlɛv.l̩/
rhymes: -ɛvəl
Forms: form: levels
Etymology: From Middle English level, from Old French livel, liveau m, later nivel, niveau, from Latin libella f (“a balance, a level”), diminutive of libra f (“a balance, a level”); see libra, librate. Doublet of libella and niveau.
The verb is from Middle English levelen, from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: Hand me the level so I can tell if this is correctly installed.
glosses: A tool for finding whether a surface is level, or for creating a horizontal or vertical line of reference.
examples: text: By the end of the day, we'd dug down to the level of the old basement floor.
glosses: A distance relative to a given reference elevation.
examples: text: This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.
ref: 2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19:
text: The sound level is much too high; this hurts my ears. We've reached a new level of success.
glosses: Degree or amount.
examples: text: She achieved a high level of distinction.
glosses: Achievement or qualification.
topics: computer
computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
science
sciences
glosses: Distance from the root node of a tree structure.
examples: text: Many of the levels change over time, from day to night or from one location to another, and some undergo a total transformation.
ref: 2007 December 24, Chris Slate, “Get Ready to Smash”, in Nintendo Power, volume 222, page 49:
text: It took me weeks to get to level seven. Watch out for the next level; the bad guys there are really overpowered.
topics: video-games
synonyms: stage
zone
world
glosses: One of several discrete segments of a game, generally increasing in difficulty and representing different locations in the game world.
examples: text: My half-orc barbarian reached fifth level before he was squashed by a troll.
topics: video-games
qualifier: roleplaying games
glosses: A numeric value given to a character (or other element of a game) that represents its relative power, challenge or eligibility to do things, used as a game mechanic to govern progression through a game.
examples: text: Take the elevator and get off at the promenade level.
glosses: A floor of a multi-storey building.
examples: text: The troops grow mutinous—the revenue fails—
There’s something rotten in us—for the level
Of the State slopes, its very bases topple,
The boldest turn their backs upon themselves!
ref: 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts:
glosses: An area of almost perfectly flat land.
topics: education
glosses: A school grade or year.
examples: text: The most common level of the colour variable is red. The other levels are blue and green.
topics: mathematics
sciences
statistics
glosses: One of the specific values which may be taken by a categorical variable.
Hyponyms: bilevel
bi-level
bonus level
dead level
ground level
integrity level
safety integrity level
software integrity level
spirit level
split level
Derived terms: Abney level
Advanced level
air level
A-level
A level
alpha level
angle level
AS-level
beat level
blind level
block level element
box level
brow-level
brow level
bubble level
C-level
confidence level
contact leve
core-level
county-level city
critical tide level
day level
difficulty level
division level
dumpy level
ear level
energy level
entry-level
extinction level event
eye level
Fermi level
first-level carrier
flight level
generic top-level domain
geostrophic wind level
groundwater level
grunt-level
Landau level
level cap
level crossing
level head
level junction
level set
level staff
level tone
level-triggered
logic level
macro-level orientation
mean sea level
mean sea level pressure
metric level
micro-level orientation
mid-level
multi-level
multiple level
next level
next-level
O-level
on the level
Ordinary level
power level
prefecture-level municipality
price level
sea level
second-level carrier
second-level domain
service level
service level agreement
seven-level
seven-level screwdriver
significance level
skip-level
S level
snow level
split-level
street level
support level
surface-level
take it to the next level
take to the next level
tertiary-level education
third-level carrier
T level
top-level domain
to the next level
transition level
tri-level
trophic level
Troughton level
two-level
water finds its level
water finds its own level
water level
water seeks its level
water seeks its own level
wye level
Y level