levee

\ˈlɛv.i\

/\ˈlɛv.i\/ noun

The verdict

“levee” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Digue destinée à empêcher les inondations.

Key facts for levee
PropertyValue
Headwordlevee
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈlɛv.i\
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “levee” sits in French frequency

levee falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for levee is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ˈlɛv.i\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Digue destinée à empêcher les inondations.".

levee doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is levee, spelled L-E-V-E-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Digue destinée à empêcher les inondations.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "levee"?
"levee" is spelled L-E-V-E-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈlɛv.i\.
What does "levee" mean?
As a noun, "levee" means: Digue destinée à empêcher les inondations.
How do you pronounce "levee"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "levee" is \ˈlɛv.i\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "levee" come from?
"levee" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “levee”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is L-E-V-E-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ˈlɛv.i\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list