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levee†
[< F levée]
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
1n.
in Canada, a formal reception, usually for men only, held New Year's morning by the Governor General, lieutenant-governors, and, sometimes, mayors.
Quotations
1844
I wish you a happy new year--la bonne Année as the Canadians say. . . . It is a day of great fête in which the gentlemen hold a kind of levée in the morning and give a dance in the evening. . . . A separate levee or drawing room is held for the ladies. . . .
1860
At 11 a levee was held at the Court-house, at which nearly 1,100 persons attended.
1960
Mayor Nelms held his own levee at city hall yesterday afternoon.
1964
A few service women . . . entered the receiving lines at some of the levees but only in Ontario was the male-only custom not held sacred.
2n.
a formal reception held on New Year's morning by the members of a military mess.
Quotations
1964
On New Year's morning officers of the permanent and reserve forces of the three armed services held the traditional New Year's levees.