levy.

1. An officially imposed tax, charge or assessment.

2. To impose or collect an official tax, charge or assessment.

3. To raise or recruit a military force or troops.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• tax levy
• special levy

On the page

The special levy funded a defined activity rather than general expenditure.

The tax levy was assessed before the authority collected the amount due.

Usage notes

Primary category: economics / business / social science. Forms: Singular levy; plural levies. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: economic process explanation, financial distinction, incentive analysis, institutional change. Disciplines: economics, business, public policy. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: levies.