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levy

[lev-ee]
noun, plural lev·ies.
  1. an imposing or collecting, as of a tax, by authority or force.
  2. the amount owed or collected.
  3. the conscription of troops.
  4. the troops conscripted.
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verb (used with object), lev·ied, lev·y·ing.
  1. to impose (a tax): to levy a duty on imports.
  2. to conscript (troops).
  3. to start or wage (war).
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verb (used without object), lev·ied, lev·y·ing.
  1. to seize or attach property by judicial order.
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Origin of levy

1375–1425; late Middle English leve(e) < Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of lever to raise < Latin levāre, akin to levis light; cf. levee2
Related formsre·lev·y, verb (used with object), re·lev·ied, re·lev·y·ing.self-lev·ied, adjectiveun·lev·ied, adjective
Can be confusedlevee levy

Synonyms

6. draft, enlist, callup.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

dutyfeetariffexciseburdencollectexactraisegatheringimpositionmustercollectioncustomtollimpostexactionextortsetwrestgather

Examples from the Web for levies

Historical Examples

  • He shall join the levies at Toulon in three days; in three days, mark me!

    Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume II (of II)

    Charles James Lever

  • Early the next morning, the Pioneers and levies started to cross the pass.

  • On arriving at the top of the pass, the Hunza levies skirmished ahead.

  • It seemed that the levies bolted, as soon as they were fired on.

  • He levies blackmail on almost every crime named in the code.

    The Root of Evil

    Thomas Dixon

British Dictionary definitions for levies

levy

verb levies, levying or levied (tr)
  1. to impose and collect (a tax, tariff, fine, etc)
  2. to conscript troops for service
  3. to seize or attach (property) in accordance with the judgment of a court
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noun plural levies
    1. the act of imposing and collecting a tax, tariff, etc
    2. the money so raised
    1. the conscription of troops for service
    2. a person conscripted in this way
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Derived Formslevier, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Old French levée a raising, from lever, from Latin levāre to raise
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for levies

levy

n.

"an act of levying," early 15c., from Anglo-French leve, Old French levée "a raising, lifting; levying," noun use of fem. past participle of lever "to raise" (see lever).

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levy

v.

early 13c., "act of raising or collecting," from Anglo-French leve, from Old French levée "act of raising," noun use of fem. past participle of lever "to raise" (see lever). Originally of taxes, later of men for armies (c.1500). Related: Levied; levying.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper