DCHP-3

New Year's (Day) levee

DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

n.

in Canada, a formal reception, usually for men only, held New Year's morning by the Governor General, lieutenant-governors, and, sometimes, mayors.

See: levee(def. 1)

Quotations

1948
The New Year's levees were traditional ceremonies dear to the hearts of loyal old Halifax. On that first day of the year . . . our people by hundreds pass through the entrance. There they move in regular lines through the stately room to pay their respects to their sovereign's representative, the Lieutenant-Governor.
1964
The traditional custom of the New Year's Day levee was marked again in Canada's provincial capitals Wednesday.