Word Confusion: Levy versus Lien

I was reading of someone who had a lien imposed on them for work done on their house, and I got to wondering what the difference was between this word confusion levy vs lien.

A levy was originally a demand for troops to wage war and evolved into a legal seizure of your property to satisfy a debt.

A lien is a legal claim against your property to secure payment of your debt.

To sum it up, a lien is the claim while the levy actually takes.

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Exploring Later . . .

You may be curious about the liable in “Liable versus Likely“.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Levy	Lien
—	—
Part of Grammar:
Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: levies Gerund: levying Third person present verb: levies Past tense or past participle: levied Present participle: levying	Noun Plural: liens
Noun: An act of levying a tax, fee, or fine A claim upon a part of another’s property that arises because of an unpaid debt related to that property and that operates as an encumbrance on the property until the debt is satisfied A tax so raised A sum collected for a specific purpose, especially as a supplement to an existing subscription An item or set of items of property seized to satisfy a legal judgment The right to hold another’s property as security for a debt owed [Historical] An act of enlisting troops [Usually levies] A body of troops that have been enlisted Verb, intransitive: [levy on, levy upon] To seize (property) to satisfy a legal judgment Verb, transitive: To impose (a tax, fee, or fine) [Archaic] To enlist (someone) for military service To begin to wage (war)	Noun: [Law] A right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged
Examples:
Noun: Union members were hit with a 2 percent levy on all pay. We all pay a fossil fuel levy in our electricity bills. There’s a vote coming up on an annual motorway levy on all drivers. “After the McCleary decision, the Legislature responded by significantly increasing state funding while implementing strict caps on levy requests to protect property owners” (Davis). Edward I and Edward II had made substantial use of the feudal levy for raising an army. We need lightly armed local levies. Verb, intransitive: There were no goods to levy upon. Taxes should not be levied without the authority of Parliament. A new tax could be levied on industry to pay for cleaning up contaminated land. Verb, transitive: There will be powers to levy the owner. He sought to levy one man from each parish for service. They then proceeded without further ceremony to levy war upon the king.	Noun: They shall be entitled to a lien on any lot sold. Make sure there are no liens against the car. They may assert a lien claim on your property. There’s a vendor’s lien on the property.
Derivatives:
Adjective: leviable	Adjective: lienable Noun: lienor
History of the Word:
Middle English, as a noun from the Old French levee, feminine past participle of lever meaning raise, from the Latin levare, from levis meaning light.	Mid-16th century from the French, via the Old French loien from the Latin ligamen meaning bond, from ligare meaning to bind.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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Resources for Levy versus Lien

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Apple Dictionary.com

Davis, Brett. “WA School Leaders Make Case for More Spending Despite Court-ordered Funding Bumps.” The Center Square. Washington Examiner. 2 Aug 2024. Accessed 4 Sept 2024. <https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3108629/wa-school-leaders-make-case-for-more-spending-despite-court-ordered-funding-bumps/#google_vignette>. Article.

The Free Dictionary: lien, levy

Merriam-Webster: levy

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Pinterest Photo Credits

Staff Sgt. Marlon Green and Sgt. Luke Boyd is in the public domain and courtesy of the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, via NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive.