Levee or levy?
levee is a noun meaning “An elevated ridge of deposited sediment on the banks of a river, formed by the…”; levy is a verb meaning “To impose (a tax or fine) to collect monies due, or to confiscate property”. Use levee as a noun and levy as a verb (levy is also a noun: “The act of levying”). They sound the same (/ˈlɛvi/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) levy is about 11 times as common as levee.
What is the difference between levee and levy?
| levee | levy | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | verb, noun |
| Meaning | An elevated ridge of deposited sediment on the banks of a river, formed by the river's overflow at times of high discharge An embankment to prevent inundation; as, the levees along the Mississippi USTo keep within a channel by means of levees | To impose (a tax or fine) to collect monies due, or to confiscate property To raise or collect by assessment; to exact by authority The act of levying |
| Example | to levee a river | to levy a tax |
| Forms | levees levées | levies, levying, levied |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlɛvi/ /ˈlɛveɪ/ | /ˈlɛ.vi/ |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words | 7.1 times per million words |
Sources: levee and levy in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of levee and levy
levee
- 1
An elevated ridge of deposited sediment on the banks of a river, formed by the river's overflow at times of high discharge
- 2
USTo keep within a channel by means of levees
to levee a river
- 3
A reception of visitors held after getting up
- 4
To attend the levee or levees of
- 5
Uncommon spelling of levee
- 6
An embankment to prevent inundation; as, the levees along the Mississippi
- 7
A formal reception, especially one given by royalty or other leaders
- 8
USThe steep bank of a river
levy
- 1
To impose (a tax or fine) to collect monies due, or to confiscate property
to levy a tax
- 2
The act of levying
- 3
To raise or collect by assessment; to exact by authority
- 4
A conscription action
- 5
To draft someone into military service
- 6
A tax paid in money
- 7
To raise; to collect; said of troops, to form into an army by enrollment, conscription. etc
- 8
A tax in kind
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, levee or levy?
levee appears about once in every 2 million words; levy 7.1 times per million words.
levee about once in every 2 million wordslevy 7.1 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search levee vs levy?
“levee vs levy” is searched about 90 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“levy vs levee”, “levee or levy”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.