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Origin and history of elation

elation(n.)

late 14c., "inordinate self-esteem, arrogance," especially "self-satisfaction over one's accomplishments or qualities, vainglory" (early 15c.), from Old French elacion "elation, conceit, arrogance, vanity," from Latin elationem (nominative elatio) "a carrying out, a lifting up," noun of action from elatus "elevated," form used as past participle of efferre "carry out, bring out, bring forth, take away," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + lātus "carried, borne" (see oblate (n.)), past participle of the irregular verb ferre "carry" (from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry," also "to bear children"). Metaphoric sense of "a lifting of spirits" was in Latin and has always been the principal meaning in English. More positive sense of "buoyancy, joyfulness" is from 1750 in English.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to elation

oblate(n.)

"person devoted to religious work," especially "child dedicated by his or her parents to monastic life and raised and trained in a monastery and held in monastic discipline," 1756, from Medieval Latin oblatus, noun use of Latin oblatus, variant past participle of offerre "to offer, to bring before," from ob- (see ob-) + lātus "carried, borne," used as past participle of the irregular verb ferre "to bear."

Presumably lātus was taken (by a process linguists call suppletion) from a different, pre-Latin verb. By the same process, in English, went became the past tense of go. Latin lātus is said by Watkins to be from *tlatos, from PIE root *tele- "to bear, carry" (see extol), but de Vaan says "No good etymology available."

elate(v.)

1570s, literal, "to raise, elevate," probably from Latin elatus "uplifted, exalted," past participle of effere "carry out, bring forth" (see elation), or else a back-formation from elation. Figurative use, "to raise or swell the mind or spirit with satisfaction and pride," is from 1610s. Related: Elated; elating.

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depression
c. 1400 as a term in astronomy, "angular distance of a star below the horizon," from Old French depression (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin depressionem (nominative depressio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin deprimere "to press down, depress" (see depres
bawd
For the French sense evolution from "bold" to "lewd," compare Old French baudise "ardor, joy, elation, act of boldness, presumption...;" baudie "elation, high spirits," fole baudie "bawdry, shamelessness."...
ecstasy
late 14c., extasie "elation," from Old French estaise "ecstasy, rapture," from Late Latin extasis, from Greek ekstasis "entrancement...
euphoria
1727, a physician's term for "condition of feeling healthy and comfortable (especially when sick)," medical Latin, from Greek euphoria "power of enduring easily," from euphoros, literally "bearing well," from eu "well" (see eu-) + pherein "to carry," from PIE root *bher- (1) "to
cloud nine
by 1950, sometimes also cloud seven (1956, perhaps by confusion with seventh heaven), American English, of uncertain origin or significance. Some connect the phrase with the 1895 International Cloud-Atlas (Hildebrandsson, Riggenbach and Teisserenc de Bort), long the basic source
bliss
Old English blis, also bliðs "bliss, merriment, happiness, grace, favor," from Proto-Germanic *blithsjo (source also of Old Saxon blidsea, blizza), from *blithiz "gentle, kind" (see blithe) + *-tjo noun suffix. Originally mostly of earthly happiness, in later Old English of spiri
high
Old English heh (Anglian), heah (West Saxon) "of great height, tall, conspicuously elevated; lofty, exalted, high-class," from Proto-Germanic *hauha- (source also of Old Saxon hoh, Old Norse har, Danish høi, Swedish hög, Old Frisian hach, Dutch hoog, Old High German hoh, German h
joy
c. 1200, "feeling of pleasure and delight;" c. 1300, "source of pleasure or happiness," from Old French joie "pleasure, delight, erotic pleasure, bliss, joyfulness" (11c.), from Latin gaudia "expressions of pleasure; sensual delight," plural of gaudium "joy, inward joy, gladness,
symptom
"a departure from normal function or form as an expression or evidence of a disease," late 14c., sinthoma, from Medieval Latin sinthoma "symptom of a disease," altered from Late Latin symptoma, from Greek symptoma "a happening, accident, disease," from stem of sympiptein "to befa
tangle
mid-14c., tanglen, "encumber, enmesh, knit together confusedly," a shortening of entangle in some cases, in others probably a nasalized variant of tagilen "to involve in a difficult situation, entangle," from a Scandinavian source (compare dialectal Swedish taggla "to disorder,"

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