Mechanical boxes that move people and things up and down between different floors in buildings.
From Latin elevare, meaning 'to lift up' or 'to raise.' The word 'elevator' was coined in the late 1800s when Elisha Otis invented the safety elevator, making tall buildings possible.
Elevators are so normal now that we forget they revolutionized cities—before safe elevators, buildings couldn't go higher than about 5 stories because people wouldn't climb that many stairs. Elevators literally built the modern skyline.
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