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PlainSpell

levy

/ˈlɛ.vi/verb, noun

levy is spelled L-E-V-Y: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,918th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “levee vs levy” about 90 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, levy means “To impose (a tax or fine) to collect monies due, or to confiscate property” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in levy?

Letters4: L-E-V-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing7.1 times per million words; the 8,918th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is levy?

Levy appears 7.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,918th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce levy?

  • US /ˈlɛ.vi/

Levy has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-levy.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with levy

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

levee vs levy90 G

Sounds like: levee (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with levy?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as levy from its last stressed vowel (/ɛvi/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of levy

  • levies present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • levying participle, present
  • levied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does levy mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To impose (a tax or fine) to collect monies due, or to confiscate property.

    to levy a tax

  2. 2

    To raise or collect by assessment; to exact by authority.

  3. 3

    To draft someone into military service.

  4. 4

    To raise; to collect; said of troops, to form into an army by enrollment, conscription. etc.

  5. 5

    To wage war.

  6. 6

    To raise, as a siege.

  7. 7

    To erect, build, or set up; to make or construct; to raise or cast up.

noun

  1. 1

    The act of levying.

  2. 2

    A conscription action.

  3. 3

    A tax paid in money.

  4. 4

    A tax in kind.

  5. 5

    Requisitioned supplies.

  6. 6

    A body of conscripts.

  7. 7

    obsoleteslangA shilling.

  8. 8

    USobsoleteThe Spanish real of one eighth of a dollar, valued at elevenpence when the dollar was rated at seven shillings and sixpence.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Levy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchlever (to impose a tax), impôt, prélèvement, taxe (act of levying)
Germanerheben (to impose a tax), Erhebung, Abgabenerhebung, Umlagenerhebung (act of levying), einziehen, in Beschlag nehmen (to confiscate property)
Spanishmultar (to impose a fine), reclutar (to draft into military service), gravamen (tax, property or people so levied)
Portugueseconvocar (to draft into military service)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does levy come from?

From Anglo-Norman leve, from Old French levee, from lever (“to raise”), from Latin lēvāre (“to raise, lift”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after levy