Talk:level

I don't quite know how to define this differently, as I can't think of the proper words. The problem with saying "parallel to the ground" is that any level (the instrument, typically with a bubble in it) placed parallel to the ground if said ground is a slope (for example, a hillside) will tell you it is not level. In other words, say a table (with a flat top) is placed with its top surface level, and a (spherical) marble is placed in the middle of the top. The marble will remain stationary. If the same tabletop is placed parallel with the side of a hill, and a marble placed upon it, the marble will roll off the table in the direction of downhill. So being parallel to the ground is not necessarily a good definition of "level."

love the word

leveller, levellest missing
These should be given as inflections too. I don't know how to write the template any more since it has changed. Equinox ◑ 15:08, 20 June 2015 (UTC)

RFC discussion: September 2006–December 2007
Translations need sorting. Jeffqyzt 01:34, 5 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Has been sorted. --Keene 01:00, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

RFD discussion: September 2018
Moved to . Per utramque cavernam 11:34, 4 September 2018 (UTC)

RFV discussion: April–September 2018
Rfv-sense: Sense:


 * 1)  To levy.
 * 2) * 2007, Mary Jacoby, EU investigators endorse charges against Intel, Wall Street Journal Europe, 17 January, p.32, col.5:
 * Ultimately, Ms. Kroes [European Union Antitrust Commissioner] could level a fine and order Intel to change its business practices.

As far as I can see, the example quoted is nothing more than an error: mixing up two words that are a bit similar. If the confusion is sufficiently common then I guess a usage note could be added, but I don't think that people's errors deserve to be mentioned in the list of definitions. Mihia (talk) 13:57, 7 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't think it's an error, I just think it's use of of "level" meaning "to direct (something at someone)", perhaps following the idea of levelling a weapon at someone; you do see this use sometimes. I don't think "level" means "levy" however. Ƿidsiþ 08:19, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
 * It could be, I guess. I think it's probably impossible to say without asking the author. However, even if you're right, the definition "to levy" is still invalid IMO, as you also suggest. Mihia (talk) 00:32, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
 * It needs an rfd-sense added to it. I think Widsith is partially right; when you've got two similar words and two similar meanings, I don't think clearly disentangling something like this is possible; except for people who write at the speed of James Joyce, who apparently felt he was writing quickly when he got two sentences done in Ulysses in a day, people don't usually think that precisely in the first place.--Prosfilaes (talk) 09:06, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

Moved from RFD, looks like a question for RFV. Two things: Per utramque cavernam 11:34, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * can we find citations to support the sense "to levy"?
 * what shall we do with the quote above? Move it to sense 4, even though it's not particularly clear?
 * See also this discussion at the StackEchhange: To “levy criticism” or to “level criticism?”. In this case it is likely but not certain that the word level was substituted for levy through sloppiness or confusion. Let‘s see if more examples are found in which the meaning is more likely “to impose” rather than “to attack”. It is by itself not unusual for similar words to get confused; see for example the last sense of . --Lambiam 15:48, 4 September 2018 (UTC)


 * I am familiar with usage like the quotation above, and it is of very long standing (on Citations:level I've put ample citations going back to 1809, including citations from the minutes of Britain's and New Zealand's parliaments), but I agree with Ƿidsiþ that it basically means "direct (some penalty) at or impose (it) on (someone)" in the manner of levelling a weapon at someone, which makes levy a poor (polysemous) definition, even if it should be mentioned in a after the definition. IMO once this is redefined, it's cited. - -sche (discuss) 18:46, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * So, passed/kept. - -sche (discuss) 04:36, 24 September 2018 (UTC)