livery

Etymology 1

From Anglo-Norman liveree, from Old French livree. Compare modern French livrée.

noun

1. Any distinctive identifying uniform worn by a group, such as the uniform worn by chauffeurs and male servants.
   “I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […]” 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
   By wearing livery, the brewers publicly expressed guild association and solidarity. 1996, Judith M. Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women's Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600
   The 35-year-old must adore this ground as this was his sixth strike in total here: four of these were previously in Manchester City livery, the other in that of Wolfsburg. 29 April 2021, Jamie Jackson, “Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes help Manchester United hit Roma for six”, in The Guardian
2. The whole body of liverymen, members of livery companies.
3. The paint scheme of a vehicle or fleet of vehicles.
   The airline's new livery received a mixed reaction from the press.
   The glass fibre body has the advantage of lightness and obviates the need for painting as the material is self-coloured in the standard B.R. maroon livery. 1961 October, “Car carriage by rail - at home and abroad: 1. New B.R. "covered wagons"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 594
4. (US) A taxicab or limousine.
5. (law) The delivery of property from one owner to the next.
6. (law) The writ by which property is obtained.
7. (historical) The rental of horses or carriages; the rental of canoes; the care and/or boarding of horses for money.
   Pegasus does not stand at livery even at the largest establishment in Moorfields.
8. (historical) A stable that keeps horses or carriages for rental.
9. An allowance of food; a ration, as given out to a family, to servants, to horses, etc.
   The emperor's officers every night went through the town from house to house whereat any English gentleman did repast or lodge, and served their liveries for all night: first, the officers brought into the house a cast of fine manchet [white bread], and of silver two great post, and white wine, and sugar. 1825, George Cavendish, edited by Samuel Weller Singer, Life of Cardinal Wolsey
10. Release from wardship; deliverance.
11. A low grade of wool.
12. Outward markings, fittings or appearance

verb

1. (archaic) To clothe.
   He liveried his servants in the most modest of clothing.

Etymology 2

liver + -y

adj

1. Like liver.
   We are happy for the chopped mushrooms within the warm goose liver paté, for the coarse, highly seasoned wedge has a robust livery flavour the 'shrooms manage to ease. 2004, Anne DesBrisay, Capital Dining: Anne DesBrisay's Guide to Ottawa Restaurants, ECW Press, page 19
   A second test was similar, but we brought the internal temperature up to 130 degrees; the texture was chewy, the meat tasted livery, and had not melted. 2010, Christopher Kimball, Fannie's Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook, Hachette UK
   Sulfur-containing compounds (thiols, sulfides, thiazoles, sulfur-substituted furans) can interact with carbonyl compounds to produce a livery flavor. 2010, Fidel Toldr, Handbook of Meat Processing, John Wiley & Sons, page 35
2. Queasy, liverish.
   The biliousness and livery feeling will disappear and the feeling of joy and happiness will be the reward. 2011, Dr Dorothy Shepherd, Homoeopathy For The First Aider, Random House, page 58
   He felt fresh and buoyant. When he was young, and had taken a siesta, he had felt livery for a couple of hours afterwards, with a tongue like a chicken run 2011, Alec Waugh, Fuel for the Flame, A&C Black
   To like everyone and to be happy with anyone was a virtue and its own reward, but I realized now that for weeks I had been feeling livery, impatient, restless. 2014, Emily Hahn, China to Me: A Partial Autobiography, Open Road Media