Levied

How to spell levied

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce levied

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does levied mean?

1. verbPast tense of levy: imposed or collected a tax, fee, or fine by official authority.
2. verbPast tense of levy: enlisted or conscripted people for military service.

Levied in a sentence

• The council levied a new charge on owners of second homes.

• The king levied an army from the surrounding villages before the campaign.

• The government levied higher duties on imported steel last year.

• Thousands of men were levied for service during the long war.

Where does levied come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is the past tense of the verb 'levy', which English took from the Old French 'levee', a noun meaning 'a raising' that came from the verb 'lever', 'to raise'. The ultimate source is the Latin 'levare', meaning 'to raise or lift', itself built on 'levis', meaning 'light' (not heavy), since lifting something makes it seem lighter. The financial sense developed because a tax or duty was something 'raised' from the population, much as we still speak of 'raising' money today. The word settled into English in the medieval period, when raising taxes and raising armies were closely linked activities, which is why 'levy' can also mean to conscript or muster troops. The spelling trap in 'levied' is the same one that catches many verbs ending in a consonant plus 'y': the 'y' quietly becomes 'i' before the '-ed' ending.

How the word is built

• levy (from Latin levare: to raise)
• -ied (past tense, with y changed to i)