Levee Levee A levee (), dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. Speakers of American English (notably in the Midwest and Deep South), use the word "levee", from the French word "levée" (from the feminine past participle of the French verb "lever", "to raise"). It originated in New Orleans a few years after the city's founding in 1718 and was later adopted by English speakers. The
Des Plaines River Mississippi Valley dialect of French spoken at the time, referred to either the American sycamore or the red maple, both of which resembled the European plane tree either in their palmate leaves or similar bark. This meaning of "plaine" survives in Canadian French: "Plaine" or "Plaine rouge" refers to an Acer rubrum and Acer saccharinum is sometimes named a "plaine blanche". The English word for the plane tree came from the 14th century Old French word "la plane". Since the later 18th century, the French word for the plane tree has evolved into "le platane". As the Latin name for