Definition
To take or carry something (or someone) from one place to another.
Example
Você pode levar as crianças à escola hoje?
Show translation
Can you take the kids to school today?
Etymology
From Latin *levāre* ("to lift, to raise"), which later evolved in Vulgar Latin and Iberian Romance to mean "to carry away." The semantic shift from "lifting" to "taking/carrying" is shared across Portuguese and Spanish (*llevar*).
Cultural note
*Levar* is one of the most versatile verbs in Brazilian Portuguese. It contrasts with *trazer* (to bring): you *levar* something away from where you are and *trazer* something toward where you are — a distinction that trips up many English speakers, since English "take" and "bring" follow the same logic but learners often mix them up in Portuguese. Watch out for the false friend with English "to leave" — *levar* does NOT mean to leave (that's *sair* or *deixar*).