Levee or levée comes from the French verb lever, meaning "getting up" or "rising". It has two main meanings: Levée (ceremony), formal ceremonial "risings" of a monarch from his bed each morning to meet with privileged people in relative privacy, which evolved into several different forms of state ceremonies in various countries Levee, a "rising" on a river bank, either one formed naturally by the periodic flooding of rivers or a man-made barrier created to control floods
Events Levée en masse, a forced, mass conscription to raise a military force New Year's levee a social event hosted by various Canadian dignitaries and institutions on New Year's Day
Places Levee Township, Pike County, Illinois The Levee, former red-light district in Chicago, Illinois
People Barbara Poe Levee (1922–2013), American painter Henri Levée (1885–1943), French rugby union player Jeremiah Levee (1835–1908), American politician John Levee (1924–2017), American abstract artist Lorin Levee (1950–2012), American clarinetist Luca Levee (born 1997), Jamaican footballer M. C. Levee (1891–1972), American film executive
Other uses Levee (horse), a Kentucky thoroughbred racehorse Levee Blues (1972), the second album from the American band Potliquor
See also Levy (disambiguation)