levy

[lev-ee]

noun, plural lev·ies.

an imposing or collecting, as of a tax, by authority or force.

the amount owed or collected.

the conscription of troops.

the troops conscripted.

verb (used with object), lev·ied, lev·y·ing.

to impose (a tax): to levy a duty on imports.

to conscript (troops).

to start or wage (war).

verb (used without object), lev·ied, lev·y·ing.

to seize or attach property by judicial order.

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 for levy

6. draft, enlist, callup.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for levying

duty, fee, tariff, excise, burden, collect, exact, raise, gathering, imposition, muster, collection, custom, toll, impost, exaction, extort, set, wrest, gather

Examples from the Web for levying

Contemporary Examples of levying

Levying sales taxes on Internet commerce would allow many states to tap into a new vein of funds.
Three Cheers for the Internet Tax!
Daniel Gross
April 24, 2013
The NCAA came down on Penn State for its ‘conspiracy of silence,’ levying a $60 million fine.
NCAA Sanctions: Let’s Forget About Football Now
Daleen Berry
July 23, 2012
Moreover, the debate about levying new sanctions on Iran is likely to produce even greater tension.
Russia's New Push for Power
Judith Miller, Doug Schoen
April 19, 2010

Historical Examples of levying

Drinking the sweat and blood of the poor, and levying double your wages.
The Sleeping Bard
Ellis Wynne
But there was bedding and napery, and no one thought of levying on friends.
A Little Girl in Old Salem
Amanda Minnie Douglas
The levying contributions from a country by military occupation and force.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
Funds for the sacred work were raised by levying a tax on public lotteries.
The Story of Paris
Thomas Okey
This is proposed to be done by levying a duty upon the foreign importation.
American Eloquence, Volume IV. (of 4)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for levying

levy

verb levies, levying or levied (tr)

to impose and collect (a tax, tariff, fine, etc)

to conscript troops for service

to seize or attach (property) in accordance with the judgment of a court

noun plural levies

the act of imposing and collecting a tax, tariff, etc
the money so raised

the conscription of troops for service
a person conscripted in this way

Derived Formslevier, noun

Word Origin for levy

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 levying

levy

"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).

levy

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.