| 释义 |
▪ I. livery, n.|ˈlɪvərɪ|
Forms: α. 3 liverei, 4 liveri, 4–5 levere, livere(e, Sc. lufre, 4–6 lyvere, -er(e)y, li-, lyveray, 4–7 livre, levery, li-, lyverie, -ye, (5 levore, Sc. liffray, luveray, lyvera, lewray), 5–6 leveray, liverey, -erie, (6 li-, lyveraie, -aye, livorie, Sc. leifray, lufray(e, 7 livrie, livory, Sc. lewerie), 5– livery. β. (?) 6 lyver, 7 liver.
[a. AF. liveré (1292 in Britton), F. livrée (1351 in Du Cange s.v. Liberare), fem. pa. pple. of livrer liver v.: see -y. Cf. It. livrea, Sp. librea (both from Fr.); med.L. had liberata.]
1. a. The dispensing of food, provisions, or clothing (cf. 2) to retainers or servants; hence gen., provision, allowance. b. The food or provisions so dispensed; an allowance or ration of food served out. Now Hist.
a1300Cursor M. 2122 Þe thrid part..al on þis side þe greckes see, was Iaphet giuen til his liuere. Ibid. 19220 Wit þam i mai ha mete and drinc, Mi liuere haf wit-vten suinc. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 146 To London forto com, whan parlement suld be,..and tak þer his liuere. 13..Test. Christi 376 (MS. Harl. 2382) in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LXXIX. 431 A cote-armur..the which y toke of thy lyuere. 1375Barbour Bruce xiv. 233 Tharfor he maid of vyne lufre [MS. E. levere, ed. 1616 lewerie] Till ilk man. 1399Rolls of Parlt. III. 452/1 That thei..gyf no Liverees of Sygnes, no make no Retenue of men. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles ii. 2 Moche now me merueileth..Of ȝoure large leuerey to leodis aboute. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 133 Syr Stewyn Serope..Hauynge the gouernaunce of Irlande, many extorcionys did, Lyuerez takynge. c1450Bk. Curtasye 371 in Babees Bk., Lyueray he hase of mete and drynke, And settis with hym who so hym thynke. Ibid. 839 Of candel liueray squiyers schalle haue. a1483Liber Niger in S. Pegge Cur. Misc. (1782) 79 Taking every of them, for his livery at night, half a chet loaf, one quart of wine, one gallon of ale; and for winter livery, from All-Hallowtide till Easter, one percher wax, one candle wax [etc.]. c1492Gest R. Hode clxi. in Child Ballads III. 64/1 There he made large lyueray, Bothe of ale and of wyne. 1573Satir. Poems Reform. xlii. 409 Ȝe ar far large of Leueray. 1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 623/2 In great howses, the liverye is sayd to be served up for all night, that is theyr nyghtes allowaunce for drinke. 1639Davenport New Trick to Cheat Devil I, [Stage-direction. Ent. with Wine, Chan.] Chan. I have brought your Livery. 1670Brooks Wks. (1867) VI. 47 They serve God for a livery, for loaves, and not for love. 1707Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. x. 140 To whom [the Lord Great Chamberlain] belongs Livery and Lodging in the Kings Court. 1861Our Eng. Home 81 The butler..dispensed the stores to the cook, and gave out the rations or liveries of meat, wine, and beer. 1875Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xxi. 531.
fig.1633Ford Broken H. iv. i, Great (faire one) grace my hopes with any instance Of Liuery, from the allowance of your fauour, This little sparke. [mod. ed. Attempts to take a ring from her finger.] 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §47, I found upon a naturall inclination, and inbred loyalty unto vertue, that I could serve her without a livery.
c. Allowance of provender for horses. at livery: (of a horse) kept for the owner, and fed and groomed at a fixed charge. Now rare or obs. exc. in livery-stable.
coynye and livery: see coynye.
a1440Sir Degrev. 1003 A thousaund hors and thre..Ylke nyȝt tok lyvere Off cowrne and off hay. 1481–4Paston Lett. III. 280, I had my horsse with hym at lyvery. 1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 623/2 What Liverye is, we by common use in England knowe well enough, namelye, that it is allowaunce of horse-meate. 1601Holland Pliny I. 559 Champions and wrestlers, whose allowance was much like to the liurie giuen to laboring horses. 1631R. Brathwait Whimzies, Keeper 49 A keeper of horses at livery. 1679–88Secr. Serv. Money Chas. & Jas. (Camden) 70 Twelve guineys a year..which King Cha. the 2d allowed him for a nagg's livery. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Livery of Hay and Oats, the giving out a certain Quantity for feeding Horses, &c. 1731Bailey vol. II. s.v., To stand at Livery is to be kept at livery stables. 1829Scott Rob Roy xix, There was a necessity..for arresting the horse, and placing him in Baillie Trumbull's stable, therein to remain at livery, at the rate of twelve shillings (Scotch) per diem.
fig.1589Pappe w. Hatchet D ij b, They finde all themselues good meales, and stand at liuerie as it were, at other mens tables. 1599Massinger, etc. Old Law ii. i, To keepe you sixe at Liuery, and still munching. 1611B. Jonson Introd. Verses to Coryat Crudities, And here he disdain'd not, in a forraine land, To lie at Livory, while the Horses did stand. 1618Fletcher Chances iii. i, Best hang a signpost up to tell the Signiors Here ye may have lewdnesse at Liverie. 1647R. Stapylton Juvenal 157 In whose [Venus'] temple at Corinth two hundred maids daily stood at livery.
†d. Stipendiary allowance (for a fellow of a college or the like). Obs.
1587R. Hovenden in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 211 We willinglie and thanckfullie acknowledge great benefitt by the statute mentioned... But such benefitte as commethe to each on for his liverye risheth cheflie by fynes and woodsales; which liveryes..are in reazon somewhat increased but not dobbled. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Livree, La Livrée des Chanoines, their liuerie, or corrodie; their stipend, exhibition, daily allowance in victuals or money.
2. a. A suit of clothes, formerly sometimes a badge or cognizance (e.g. a collar or hood), bestowed by a person upon his retainers or servants and serving as a token by which they may be recognized; in wider sense, a distinctive badge or suit worn by a servant or official, a member of a company, etc.; † formerly, the uniform of a soldier or sailor. In generalized use, the distinctive uniform style of dress worn by a person's servants, etc. (now only men-servants). in livery: wearing a particular livery. out of livery: (of a servant) not dressed in livery; wearing plain clothes. † In early use also, a set of distinctive badges or suits; in first quot. = garments, clothes.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 1107 And alle in sute her liurez wasse. 1375Barbour Bruce xix. 36 Thre hundreth and sexte had he Of squyeris, cled in his liverye. c1386Chaucer Prol. 363 An haberdasshere and a Carpenter, A Webbe, a Dyere, and a Tapycer, And they were clothed in o lyueree Of a solempne and a greet fraternitee. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 21 Ye bretheren and sisteren of yis gilde..shul han a lyueree of hodes in suyte. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles ii. 79 That no manere meyntenour shulde merkis bere, Ne haue lordis leuere þe lawe to apeire. c1440Gesta Rom. xv. 51 (Add. MS.), xlti knyghtes of oone leveraye. 1463Bury Wills (Camden) 41 Bothe my colers of silvir, the kyng's lyfre. 1473J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 14 He..wered ane estryche feder, Prynce Edwardes lyvery. 1480Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 124 A gowne and a hoode of the liveree of the Garter for the Duke de Ferrare. 1485Caxton Paris & V. 14 Every baron gaf hys lyverey that they shold be knowen eche fro other. 1522Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 13 The kinge and he ridinge both together in one liverey. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 173 b, The erle perceiving by the livery of the souldiors, that he was circumvented. a1550in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 319 Ȝe noble merchandis..Address ȝow furth..In lusty grene lufraye. a1592Greene Geo. a Greene (1599) F 1 b, Two liueries will I giue thee euerie yeere, And fortie crownes shall be thy fee. 1622Bacon Hen. VII 58 Liveries, tokens, and other badges of factious dependance. 1631Heywood Lond. Jus Hon. Wks. 1874 IV. 273 All this goodly band..in their City Liveries. 1671Milton Samson 1616 Immediately Was Samson as a public servant brought, In thir state Livery clad. 1684in Scott. Antiq. XV. 18 Skulking and vagrant persons who have hitherto imitated the livery of the king's sojors. 1707Farquhar Beaux Strat. iii. i. 23 What sort of Livery has the Footman? 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4710/4 Deserted.., John Stephens, a Serjeant,..having his Serjeant's Livery on. 1814Mrs. J. West Alicia de Lacy III. 113 Disguised in the livery of a trooper. 1841Lytton Nt. & Morn. i. i, A Servant out of livery leaped from the box. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. ii. 28 Hunting the country in the livery of the Salisbury Hunt. 1875Stubbs Const. Hist. II. xvii. 610 The king out of compliment wore the livery of the duke of Lancaster. 1900Blackw. Mag. Dec. 862/2 Servants in claret and yellow livery noiselessly served wine.
β1512Hen. VIII To Earl Shrewsbury in Rymer Foedera (1710) XIII. 338 Badges, Tokens or Lyvers to Were. 1660tr. Amyraldus' Treat. conc. Relig. iii. i. 303 To wear the liver of an enemy to one's King.
b. transf. and fig.
c1325Earth ix. in E.E.P. (1862) 151 Whan erþ makiþ is liuerei he grauiþ vs in grene. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. xiii, When that Flora..Hath euery playne, medowe, hil and vale.. clad in lyuery newe. 1494Fabyan Chron. vi. clxxxii. 180 That Rollo shuld..take vpon hym the lyuerey of Cristes baptym. 1563Homilies ii. Rogation Week iv. (1859) 495 Love and charity, which is the only livery of a Christian man. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 113 The childing Autumne, angry Winter change Their wonted Liueries. 1611Cotgr., Liripipionné,..faithfull to the pot, and therefore bearing the red-faced liuerie therof. 1661Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 192 White (the livery of innocence). 1667Milton P.L. iv. 599 Now..Twilight gray Had in her sober Livery all things clad. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 665 A Snake..has cast his Slough aside, And in his Summer Liv'ry rouls along. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. v. 96 Trees receive annually their peculiar liveries, and bear their proper fruits. 1734Berkeley Analyst §1 Wks. 1871 III. 258 Clothing themselves in the livery of other men's opinions. 1797–1804T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) II. 112 The females may be seen in the livery either complete or partial, of the past Season. 1813Scott Rokeby i. i, Sorrow's livery dims the air. 1835Thirlwall Greece I. viii. 311 The rustic garb, which was the livery of his servitude.
c. An emblem, device, or distinctive colour on a vehicle, product, etc., indicating its owner or manufacturer.
1938H. A. Vallance Highland Railway xiv. 155 He introduced on the Highland Railway the style of painting which was afterwards so well-known on the south coast. Passenger engines were painted yellow... For goods engines a dark green livery was adopted. 1966J. Thomas Callander & Oban Railway x. 169 The Caledonian 2–4–2 tanks..had the plain conical chimney..and the Prussian-blue passenger livery then standard on the line. 1970Guardian 27 July 16/2 The Antonovs [sc. planes] are painted battleship grey, with red hammer and sickle emblems, not the normal livery of Aeroflot passenger aircraft. 1972Times 13 Oct. 17/7 London Transport's intention can be simply stated. It is that the livery of the bus fleet will remain red, with a very strictly limited number offered to advertisers for all-over painted designs. 1973Times 1 Dec. 17/7 As the designers responsible for the BEA livery we were invited, along with two other design groups, to make proposals for ‘British Airways’. 1974P. Lovesey Invitation to Dynamite Party ii. 22 An enormous express locomotive painted in the brilliant golden ochre and dark olive green livery of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company.
3. collect. sing.
a. Retainers or servants in livery. † Also occas. a liveried servant. ? Obs.
1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) v. xiii. 104 In these ryall festes the kyng yeueth his leuery ful ryche and ryal robes. a1577Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. (1609) 106 First of retainers, that no man should haue aboue a number in his Liuery or retinue. 1628Shirley Witty Fair One i. ii. (1633), Her Father..rides..With halfe a douzen wholesome Liueries, To whom he gives Christian wages. Ibid. ii. ii, My lodging is next to her chambers, it is a confidence in my Master to let his Liuery lye so neere her. 1714Steele Lover 11 Mar. (1723) 38 Seeing a Place in the second Row of the Queen's Box kept by Mrs. Lucy's Livery, I placed my self in the Pit directly over against her Footman. 1766Chesterfield Let. to C'tess Suffolk Nov. (1892) III. 1349 If she is a Mrs. with a surname, she is above the livery, and belongs to the upper servants. 1791–1823D'Israeli Cur. Lit. (1866) 450/2 As cross-humoured as the livery of this day, in their notices of what we now gently call our ‘supplies’.
†b. Used for: Following, faction. (Cf. F. livrée in the sense of ‘party’.) under (a person's) livery: in dependence on him. Obs.
c1477Caxton Jason 116 b, As to the regarde of Hercules, Theseus [etc.]..they faylled not to be of the lyuereye of Iason. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 12 To compasse that the duchy of Bryteyne should breuely come vndre their liure and subjeccion. 1613Milles tr. Mexia's Treas. Anc. & Mod. Times 722/2 All the other Christians, as Maronites..and others of that Liverie, never used it [circumcision].
c. = livery company (see 10 b) or the liverymen of a company. Also, to take up one's livery (? orig. in sense 2): to become a liveryman of one of the City companies.
c1521Old City Acc. Bk. in Archæol. Jrnl. XLIII, Receyved of Brether admittid & taken into the lyuerey this yere. 1529in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. xiv. 252 A Remedye agaynst theym that wyll not be of the lyuerey, nor bere offyce. 1624Massinger Renegado iii. ii, I should..nere be pittied By the liueries of those companies. 1637Decree Star Chamb. in Milton's Areop. (Arb.) 17 Euery Master-printer that is of the Liuery of his Company. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., The Livery or Livery-men of a Company or Corporation, such Members as are advanc'd to a Degree above the Yeomanry, and have a Right to wear a Livery-gown upon solemn Occasions. 1839Penny Cycl. XIV. 119/1 (London) Certain senior members of the livery, who form what is commonly called ‘The Court of Assistants’. Ibid., In more modern times..it has frequently been made imperative upon many freemen of the City to take up their livery in one of the Companies. 1854Thackeray Newcomes v, We belong to the same Livery in the City.
†d. slang. (See quot.) Obs.
1680Betterton Revenge i. 8 'Tis..out of fashion now to call things by their right names. Is a Citizen a Cuckold? no, he's one of the Liverie.
†4. The lodging provided or appointed for a person. Also, the quarters of a portion of an army. Obs.
a1400Morte Arth. 241 The soueraingne..Assingnyde to the senatour certaygne lordes, To lede to his leuere. Ibid. 3078 In iche leuere on lowde the kynge did crye. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clx. [clvi.] 440 The duke of Berrey was come to Auygnon and was lodged in the popes palais, but he came to Vyle neufe to the kynge, and laye in the lyuere [footn. hotel; Fr. en sa liuree] of arras, called Amontays, in the way to Mountpellyer.
5. Law.
a. The legal delivery of property into a person's possession; phr. to have livery, give livery, take livery. to sue (also sue for, sue out) one's livery: to institute a suit as heir to obtain possession of lands which are in the hands of the court of wards. (Also fig.)
b. The writ by which possession of property is obtained from the court of wards.
1430–31Rolls of Parlt. IV. 372/2 Noght havyng liveree of the saide Wolles. 1460Ibid. V. 388/1 The Sollicitours for the Quene..causid the seid John and Isabell to sue a speciall Livere of the seid Londes and Tenementes. 1465Paston Lett. II. 192 He desyryd me to mak hym levery of the seyd bests so taken. 1531Dial. on Laws Eng. i. vii. 13 b, By way of surrendre..a freholde may passe without lyuerey. 1593Shakes. Rich. II, ii. i. 129, I am denyde to sue my Liuerie here, And yet my Letters Patents giue me leaue. 1603Owen Pembrokeshire (1891) 155 The Courte of Wardes and liveries, doeth allso call all Wardes in Wales to sue forth their lyveries there. 1622Bacon Hen. VII, 210 The Kings Wards after they had accomplished their full Age, could not bee suffered to haue Liuerie of their Lands, without paying excessiue Fines. 1635Quarles Embl. v. ix. (1718) 281 What mean these liv'ries and possession keys? 1649Milton Eikon. xi. Wks. 1851 III. 426 It concern'd them first to sue out their Livery from the unjust wardship of his encroaching Prerogative. 1656Blount Glossogr., Livery..3. It is the Writ which lies for the heir to obtain the possession or seizin of his lands at the Kings hands. 1660Act 12 Chas. II, c. 24 §1 It is hereby Enacted That the Court of Wardes and Liveries and all Wardships Liveries Primer-Seizins and Ouster-le-mains..be taken away and discharged. 1707Chamberlayne State Gt. Brit. ii. vi. 98 He [the king's eldest son] may that Day sue for the Livery of the said Dukedom [of Cornwall] and ought of Right to obtain the same. 1765Act 5 Geo. III, c. 17 §1 Tythes or other incorporeal hereditaments only, which lie in grant and not in livery. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 318 Sir J. Palmer thought, that in a deed to pass an inheritance, where there was a common in gross, the word grant was absolutely necessary; for it could not pass by the livery. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xviii. 384 The recusants were allowed to sue for livery of their estates in the court of wards. 1875Poste Gaius ii. Comm. (ed. 2) 173 In English law conveyance by livery was an older title than conveyance by deed.
c. livery of seisin (freq. erron. livery and seisin; AF. livery de seisin): the delivery of property into the corporal possession of a person; in the case of a house, by giving him the ring, latch, or key of the door; in the case of land, by delivering him a twig, a piece of turf, or the like.
Virtually abolished by 8 & 9 Vict. cap. 106 §2, which provides that after 1 Oct. 1845 ‘all corporeal Tenements and Hereditaments shall as regards the Conveyance of the immediate Freehold thereof, be deemed to lie in Grant as well as in Livery’.
c1475Partenay 560 After sette day of lyuerey and season, That men deliuer you possession. 1574tr. Littleton's Tenures 13 a, In a leas for terme of yeares by deede or without deede, it nedeth no lyvery of seisin to be made to the lessee. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. iv. 37 She gladly did of that same babe accept As of her owne by liuerey and seisin. 1608Dod & Cleaver Expos. Prov. xi–xii. 189 How large demeanes may a man be estated in by taking a turfe in way of liuery and seison? 1652Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 297, 22nd [Jan.] was perfected the sealing, livery and seisin of my purchase of Sayes Court. 1741T. Robinson Gavelkind ii. iii. 195 The Livery of Seisin must be propriâ manu of the Infant. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 57 Livery of seisin is exactly similar to the investiture of the feudal law; it was adopted here..that the proprietor of each piece of land should be publicly known. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxii. 24 He who could neither show his writ, nor bring evidence, of personal livery of seisin, was held to have no lawful claim to the lands which he held.
transf. and fig.1628Jackson Creed ix. ix. §5 Abraham in that sacred banquet which the King of Salem exhibited to him did (as we say) take levery de seisin of the promised land. 1651Biggs New Disp. ⁋180 The Feaver, who hath now taken livery and seisen. 1659Hammond On Ps. cx. 7. 566 To take livery and seizin of an hostile Countrey.
†6.
a. gen. The action of handing over or conveying into a person's hands; delivery (of goods, money, etc., of a writ). Obs.
c1400Beryn 1896 The marchandise within Is nat in my charge; ye know as wele as I To make therof no lyuery. c1440York Myst. xxv. 65 What are ȝe þat makis here maistrie, To loose þes bestis with-oute leverie? 1442Rolls of Parlt. V. 64/2 At the tyme of the sale, and tofore the lyvere of hem from the seid Staple. 1444Ibid. 125/2 Upon the levere of him so arrested. 1464Ibid. 560/2 After the lyvere of the said Writte. 1465Paston Lett. II. 192 He desyred me to mak hym levery of the seyd bests so taken. 1579–80North Plutarch, Camillus (1595) 150 He sent an Herauld before to Rome, to demand liuerie of the man that had offended him, that he might punish him accordingly. 1745Observ. conc. Navy 14 Had they arrived in the Ship at her Port of Livery.
†b. Delivery or dealing (of blows). Obs.
c1350Will. Palerne 1233 Þanne lente he swiche leuere to ledes þat he ofrauȝt, Þat [etc.]. Ibid. 3822 William..leide on swiche liuere..þat [etc.]. 13..Coer de L. 4029 Swilke levery he hem delte, Al that he hytte anon they swelte. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 330 They..lente hem leuere of her longe battis. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 7613 Ector deled about lyueray To alle that euere come In his way.
†7. A due or tribute. Cf. med.L. livrea (Du Cange). Obs. rare—1.
1577Harrison England ii. ii. (1877) i. 58 S. Davids hath Penbroke and Caermardine shires, whose liuerie or first fruits to the see of Rome was one thousand and five hundred ducats at the hardest.
8. A particular sort of wool (see quot. 1837).
1837Youatt Sheep iii. 67 The livery—principally the skirtings and edgings, and the short coarse or breech wool, that which comes from the breech of the animal. 1843Penny Cycl. XXVII. 551/1 The [wool] sorter has to make his selection in relation to the fineness, the softness, the strength, the colour, the cleanness, and the weight of the wool; and in reference to these qualities he separates the wool into many parcels, which receive the names of—‘prime’, ‘choice’,..‘fine abb’, ‘coarse abb’, ‘livery’, &c. 1875in Knight Dict. Mech. s.v. Wool-sorting.
9. U.S. = livery-stable. (Cent. Dict.) Also attrib.
1845F. Douglass Narr. Life F. Douglass 16 His stable and carriage-house presented the appearance of some of our large city livery establishments. 1888C. D. Ferguson Experiences Forty-Niner i. 15 We placed our horses in a livery on Third street. 1902W. N. Harben Abner Daniel 29, I could 'a' gone to a livery an' ordered out a team. 1903A. Adams Log of Cowboy xiii. 81 Long before we reached the Mulberry, a livery rig came down the trail to meet us. 1936E. G. Barnard Rider Cherokee Strip 210 They met a traveling man who was driving a good livery team to a buckboard. 1940W. Faulkner Hamlet ii. 32 The village consisted of a livery barn and lot and a contiguous shady though grassless yard.
10. attrib. and Comb.
a. Simple attrib. passing into adj., in various senses: (a) † given as or constituting a livery; intended for servants' use (obs.), as livery arrows, livery bedstead, livery bow, livery feather-bed, livery meal, livery towel; (b) pertaining to, forming part of, or used as a livery, as livery beard, livery button, livery cloak (in quot. fig.), livery cloth, livery coat, livery collar, livery colour, livery gown, livery hat, livery lace, livery plush, livery red, livery suit; (c) kept at livery or for hire, as livery horse, livery nag; transf. livery friend, livery mistress, livery punk; (d) wearing a livery, as livery attendant.
1549Privy Council Acts (1890) II. 350 *Lyverey arrowes, xvc shef.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe Ep. Ded., His patient *liuery attendant.
1641Brome Joviall Crew iv. i. Wks. 1873 III. 417 All the Servants wear *Livery-Beards.
1610Althorp MS. in Simpkinson The Washingtons App. p. iv, The Butler's Chamber. Impr. a *leverye bedstead, with a tester of buckram.
1566Act 8 Eliz. c. 10 §3 Bowes..of the course sorte, called *Livery Bowes. 1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 19 b, All Liueray or warre Bowes.
1848Thackeray Bk. Snobs xxxiv, A *livery-button maker.
1599Marston Sco. Villanie 167 Sirra, *liuorie cloake, you lazie slipper slave.
1791J. Learmont Poems 179 Ye gie them wage, board, *livery-claith. 1842J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 151, I have sold a large quantity of livery cloths for the use of London.
1551T. Wilson Logike 45 b, A *liverie coate garded with velvet. 1575–85Abp. Sandys Serm. v. 83 Loue is the Liuerie-coate of Christ. 1820Scott Abbot vi, Showing you it was your Lady's livery-coat which I spared, and not your flesh and blood, Master Roland.
1473in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. (1877) I. 68 A *leueray colare of the Kingis.
1621Bury Wills (Camden) 167 Two of the ordinarie *lyverie fetherbedes.
a1637B. Jonson Disc. (1641) 105 They have *Livery-friends, friends of the dish, and of the Spit.
1462Paston Lett. II. 120, I have but on gowne at Framyngham and an other here, and that is my *levere gowne. 1606Progr. Jas. I (1828) II. 67 The Companies of London, in their lyverie-gownes and hoodes. 1778Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Hartford, The chief bailiff was then allowed by the king 20s. a year for his livery-gown.
1890Army & Navy Stores Catal. Mar. 1173 *Livery Hat.
1838H. Colman 1st Rep. Agric. Mass. (Mass. Agric. Survey) 17 The number of stage and *livery horses kept in the county cannot fall short of one thousand,..who depend on the purchase of hay.
1865Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 301 Putting Mr. C. to the cost of a livery-horse.
1701Lond. Gaz. No. 3716/4 Some new Cloth and *Livery-Lace.
1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 341 The practise of giving them six and a half bolls of meal..is daily becoming more general. These farmers, who keep any married servants, have them all on this establishment of *livery meal. 1623Massinger Dk. Milan iv. ii, He that at euerie stage keeps liuerie Mistresses.
1784Cowper Tiroc. 901 Wouldst thou with a Gothic hand Pull down the schools..Or throw them up to *liv'ry-nags and grooms?
1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 1055 *Livery plushes, of various qualities.
1624Massinger Renegado iii. ii, His ships, his goods, his *liuery-puncks, confiscate.
1708Lond. Gaz. No. 4447/4 Their *Livery Red, lin'd and fac'd with Yellow.
1705Ibid. No. 4162/4 Two *Livery-Suits, of a deep blue. 1888Wardrop Poems & Sk. 232 John, that livery suit and hat, please.
1582Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1860) 46, vij long table towells, and iiij *liveraye towells.
b. Special comb.: livery company, one of the London City companies which had formerly a distinctive costume used for special occasions; † livery cupboard, a cupboard in which ‘liveries’ of food were served out; in later times, app. an ornamental buffet or sideboard; livery fine, the payment due from those who become liverymen in a London company; livery-fish Anglo-Irish, the striped wrasse, Labrus mixtus; livery list, the list of the liverymen of a company; livery office (see quot.); † livery pot, a pot in which ‘liveries’ of wine were served out; livery servant, (a) a servant who wears livery; (b) = livery-fish; † livery table, a table on which ‘liveries’ or rations were put; hence, a side table; livery tavern, an inn at which horses may be kept at livery. Also livery-man, livery-stable.
1766Entick London IV. 73 This is also a *livery company. 1871W. H. Ainsworth Tower Hill i. ix, The barges of the twelve livery companies.
1571Bury Wills (Camden) 267 A carpet for the *lyvery cubberd. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 184 The livery cupbords of gold inlaid with rich pretious stones. 1737tr. Le Comte's Mem. & Rem. China vi. 172 A livery cupboard borne by the officers of the palace. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxii, The livery cupboards were loaded with plate of the richest description.
18372nd Rep. Munic. Corp. Comm., Lond. Companies 18 Prior to the 15th December 1796, the *Livery fine was 13l. 6s. 8d.
1880–4F. Day Brit. Fishes I. 258 Cook wrasse, blue-striped wrasse,..Livery-servant and *livery-fish in the north of Ireland.
1861Evening Star 4 Oct., The proceedings in the City Registration Court during the revision of the *Livery lists.
1848Wharton Law Lex., *Livery-office, an office appointed for the delivery of lands.
1575Laneham Let. (1871) 8 A payree [sic] of great whyte syluer *lyuery Pots for wyne. 1656Sir J. Finett For. Ambass. 133 An old guilt Livery Pot that had lost its fellow.
1702Order in Council 8 Mar. in Lond. Gaz. No. 3791/4 That..all Lords..do..cloath their *Livery Servants with Black Cloth. 1822Hazlitt Table-t. II. ii. 24 They will go in the character of livery-servants to stand behind the chairs of the great.
1601Holland Pliny II. 297 To remoue the cupbourd of plate, & *liuery table [L. mensam vel repositorium], whiles one of the guests is a drinking. 1650Fuller Pisgah v. xviii. 173, I conceive therefore the other nine [Tables of Shew Bread], onely as side-cupboards, or Livery tables ministeriall to that principall one.
1787M. Cutler in Life, Jrnls. & Corr. (1888) I. 252 My companion conducted me to..a *livery tavern.
Hence † liveryless a.
1598[see liverless].
Add:[9.] b. Horse-riding colloq. (a) A horse from a livery-stable, or one for which livery is needed; (b) a place for a horse at a livery-stable; (c) an owner of a horse kept at livery.
1896Dialect Notes I. 420 Livery, a turn-out from a livery stable. 1948Horse & Hound 3 Jan. 14/3 (Advt.), Liveries. Ye Olde Felbridge Livery Stables... Horses taken at livery. Ibid. 14 Feb. 15/4 (Advt.), A unique opportunity! Two liveries, good stables, exercise, every care. 1950Ibid. 23 Sept. 22/4 (Advt.), Accommodation available for 2 or 3 good hunting liveries. 1982Daily Tel. 15 Dec. 10/8 (Advt.), McLeod liveries. Full Hunter Horse liveries available. Take the worry out of hunting. 1986Horse & Rider Sept. 35/1 Livery yards could be more helpful..by putting a notice somewhere prominent where all liveries will see it.
▪ II. livery, a.|ˈlɪvərɪ|
[f. liver n.1 + -y.]
1. Of the consistency or colour of liver; dial. (of soil) heavy, tenacious.
1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 28 Mar. 1775 The surface is..remarkably fine for such a livery, leathery, water-shaken Ley. 1857Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XVIII. i. 101 [Potatoes] not heavy, livery balls,..but light and flowery. 1877N.W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., Clay or warp land is said to turn up livery when, on ploughing the soil, it is found to be sad and heavy, without tendency to crumble into mould.
2. colloq. = liverish 2.
1937in Partridge Dict. Slang 487/2. 1968 R. Jeffries Traitor's Crime iii. 34 You had too much port: port always makes you livery.
▪ III. † ˈlivery, v. Obs. rare.
[f. livery n.]
trans. To array in a livery: in quot. fig.
1597Shakes. Lover's Compl. 105 His rudenesse so with his authoriz'd youth Did liuery falsenesse in a pride of truth. 1611Florio, Liureáre, to liuery, to giue or put into liueries. |