levy

levy · verb, noun¹

1. Latin · derived fromlēvāre“to raise, lift”
2. Old French · derived fromlevee
3. Anglo-Norman · derived fromleve
4. English todaylevy

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

levy · noun²

Contraction of elevenpence.

Levy · proper noun³

1. German · derived fromLevy
2. French · derived fromLévy
3. English todayLevy

From the biblical name Levi. Unlike the biblical spelling, which descended through continuous liturgical traditions that preserved final secondary stress (causing it to shift to IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈliːvaɪ/), the surname was re-introduced into English after the 1650s via French Lévy and German Levy. The pronunciation IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈlɛvi/ arose from assimilation to the common noun levy, while IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈliːvi/ preserves the historical long vowel of the first syllable without final stress.

Levy · proper noun⁴

1. Czech · derived fromLevý
2. English todayLevy

From Czech Levý, from the adjective levý (“left”).

Levy · proper noun⁵

1. Irish · derived fromMac Duinnshléibhe“son of the chief on the mountain”
2. English todayLevy

Shortening of Irish Mac Duinnshléibhe (“son of the chief on the mountain”), from mac (“son”) + donn (“noble”) + sliabh (“mountain”).

Words from the same roots