levy English · revision 15514

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1416|origins=ine-pro *h₁legʷʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈlɛ.vi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|leve]], [[bor|xno|leve]] (Old French [[m|fro|levée|t=act of raising]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the feminine past participle of [[m|fro|lever|t=to raise]] (see [[lever]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[la|levō|t=to raise]], from [[m|la|levis|t=light]],^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*h₁legʷʰ-|t=not heavy]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of raising taxes: 1416 in Barnhart, the early 15th century in Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) with the Anglo-French word as early as 1227.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, to impose or collect a tax, is from 1436–37 in Barnhart and the 14th century in Hoad;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline dates a verb to raise or collect to the early 13th century.^(Etymonline) Raising men for armies is from about 1500,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and a body of men enrolled from 1611.^(OED 1989) Trench notes that a siege could once be levied as well as raised.^(Trench 1859) The levy in mass, after French [[m|fr|levée en masse]], is from 1807.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1227 – leve (Anglo-French).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1416 – raising taxes.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1436–37 – to levy (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1500 – raising troops.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1807 – levy in mass.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[tax]] or charge that must be paid; the act of imposing or collecting it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A body of troops raised by [[conscription]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To impose or collect a tax or fine.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To raise troops by conscription.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To seize property by legal judgment.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To declare and wage war.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[levier]]

+ * [[leviable]]

+ * [[relevy]]

+ * [[unlevied]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lever]]

+ * [[levee]]

+ * [[elevate]]

+ * [[relieve]]

+ * [[levity]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different levy, an old American coin, is a shortening of ''eleven pence'', its approximate value.^(MWU 2024) In Staffordshire and Warwickshire dialect a levy was a rate or tax.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}