levitation means the raising of something, such as a body, without apparent physical cause, allegedly using the power of the mind. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 86 out of 100.
levitation is pronounced /ˌlɛvɪˈteɪʃən/.
Why “levitation” is a great word
LEVITATION — [Noun] The act or phenomenon of rising or suspending an object in defiance of apparent gravity, by means either supernatural or technical. From the Latin levitas ("lightness"), via the English verb 'levitate' with the suffix -ion, patterned on 'gravitate'; first recorded in English use in the 1660s. Unlike hovering, which implies a stationary aloftness maintained by visible mechanics, or buoyancy, which denotes a specific principle of fluid displacement, levitation is defined by its uncanny absence of a visible scaffold. It is the séance table lifting on a held breath, the magician's apprentice suspended in a cone of light, or the superconducting disk locked in perfect, silent repulsion above its track—a temporary, perfect exemption from the world's persistent pull.
Etymology
From levitate + -ion, from Latin levitas (“lightness”), patterned in English on gravitate.
noun
- 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.“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.”