Etymology
1. c.1200, from O.N.
lypta "to raise," from P.Gmc.
*luftijan (cf. M.L.G.
lüchten, Du.
lichten, Ger.
lüften "to lift;" O.E.
lyft "heaven, air," see loft). The meaning "steal" (as in
shop-lift) is first recorded 1526.Noun meaning "cheering influence" is from 1861; sense of "elevator" first recorded 1851. Meaning "help given to a pedestrian by taking him into a vehicle" is from 1712.
Liftoff "vertical take-off of a rocket, etc." is 1956 in Amer.Eng.
2. From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport".
3. (To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō)). But perhaps simply from the idea of removing an item from a surface. See: Proto-Germanic '
*luftijaną', Norwegian '
løfte', Swedish '
lyfta', German, old spelling '
lüften'.
Verbs referencing "lift"
Norwegian, nynorsk
lyfta, Finnish with old forms
liftata, Dutch
liften.