Livery

Livery, liv′ėr-i, n. the dress or uniform worn by servants, esp. men-servants: a dress peculiar to certain persons or things, as in the trade-guilds of London: any characteristic dress: the being kept and fed at a certain rate, as horses at livery: the whole body of liverymen in London: (orig.) the distinctive dress worn by the household of a king or nobleman, so called because delivered or given at regular periods.—adj. Liv′eried, clothed in livery.—ns. Liv′ery-com′pany, a guild of the city of London; Liv′eryman, a man who wears a livery: a freeman of the city of London entitled to wear the livery and enjoy other privileges of his company; Liv′ery-ser′vant, a servant who wears a livery; Liv′ery-stā′ble, a stable where horses and vehicles are kept for hire.—Sue one's livery (Shak.), to ask for the writ delivering a freehold into the possession of its heir. [Fr. livrée—livrer—L. liberāre, to free.]