levy

verb

The verdict

“levy” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #19,894 in French word frequency and used as a verb.

#19,894
frequency rank, French
4
letters
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Prélever, imposer.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

levy vs lv
50% similar
levy vs liv
50% similar
levy vs lex
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for levy
PropertyValue
Headwordlevy
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
Letters4
Frequency rank#19,894
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “levy” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). levy lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for levy is 4 letters long, classified as a verb. Corpus data places it at rank #19,894 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Prélever, imposer.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for levy, with forms such as "elvy", "levvy", and "levyy". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lv", "liv", "lex", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

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 levy, spelled L-E-V-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Prélever, imposer.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: elvy,levvy,levyy,leyv,llevy,lvey

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of levy - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

elvy2levvy1levyy1leyv2llevy1lvey2
Edit distance from "levy"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "levy"?
"levy" is spelled L-E-V-Y.
What does "levy" mean?
As a verb, "levy" means: Prélever, imposer.
What words are commonly confused with "levy"?
"levy" is commonly confused with "lv", "liv", "lex". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "levy" come from?
"levy" 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 “levy”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is L-E-V-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “lv” - see the side-by-side comparison. levy vs lv
  • 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