Definition: elevation

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

elevation
     n 1: the event of something being raised upward [syn: lift, raising]
     2: the highest level or degree attainable: "his landscapes were
        deemed the acme of beauty"; "the artist's gifts are at
        their acme"; "at the height of her career"; "the peak of
        perfection"; "summer was at its peak"; "...catapulted
        Einstein to the pinnacle of fame"; "the summit of his
        ambition"; "so many highest superlatives achieved by man";
        "at the top of his profession" [syn: acme, height, peak,
         pinnacle, summit, superlative, top]
     3: angular distance above the horizon (especially of a
        celestial object) [syn: EL, altitude, ALT]
     4: a raised or elevated geological formation [syn: natural
        elevation] [ant: natural depression]
     5: distance of something above a reference point
     6: drawing of an exterior of a structure
     7: the act of increasing the wealth or prestige or power or
        scope of something [syn: aggrandizement, aggrandisement]
     8: the act of raising something; "he responded with a lift of
        his eyebrow"; "fireman learn several different raises for
        getting ladders up" [syn: lift, raise, heave]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Elevation \El`e*va"tion\, n. [L. elevatio: cf. F.
   ['e]l['e]vation.]
   1. The act of raising from a lower place, condition, or
      quality to a higher; -- said of material things, persons,
      the mind, the voice, etc.; as, the elevation of grain;
      elevation to a throne; elevation of mind, thoughts, or
      character.

   2. Condition of being elevated; height; exaltation. ``Degrees
      of elevation above us.'' --Locke.

            His style . . . wanted a little elevation. --Sir H.
                                                  Wotton.

   3. That which is raised up or elevated; an elevated place or
      station; as, an elevation of the ground; a hill.

   4. (Astron.) The distance of a celestial object above the
      horizon, or the arc of a vertical circle intercepted
      between it and the horizon; altitude; as, the elevation of
      the pole, or of a star.

   5. (Dialing) The angle which the style makes with the
      substylar line.

   6. (Gunnery) The movement of the axis of a piece in a
      vertical plane; also, the angle of elevation, that is, the
      angle between the axis of the piece and the line o? sight;
      -- distinguished from direction.

   7. (Drawing) A geometrical projection of a building, or other
      object, on a plane perpendicular to the horizon;
      orthographic projection on a vertical plane; -- called by
      the ancients the orthography.

   Angle of elevation (Geodesy), the angle which an ascending
      line makes with a horizontal plane.

   Elevation of the host (R. C. Ch.), that part of the Mass in
      which the priest raises the host above his head for the
      people to adore.