livrée

Forms

livrée f (plural livrées)^[1] Old French livree.^[1]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the feminine past participle from French livrer (“to deliver, hand over”):^[2][3][4] it first meant the clothes “delivered”, handed out by a lord to the people in his service.^[3][5][6] The verb comes from Latin līberō (“to set free”), which in popular Latin came to mean “to let go”, then “to hand over, supply”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1290, in the Livre Roisin, for the garments a lord gave to the people attached to his service.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

From the end of the 14th century livrée meant clothes whose cloth, braid and buttons recalled the master's coat of arms.^[2][3] Cut off from its origin, the word then took its present sense, the uniform worn by the servants of one household (1606, Nicot), and by metonymy the servants as a group (1669).^[3][2]

Another use, the coloured ribbons handed out at a wedding (1546, Rabelais), whence a lady's livrée, the ribbons and pieces of cloth in her colours, is now archaic.^[3][2] In literary style the word means the outward signs of a condition or state (1674–1675, Malebranche).^[2][3] By analogy it was used in zoology for an animal's characteristic coat or plumage (1765, the Encyclopédie), and later (1950) for the look of an insect.^[3][2]

The Anglo-French form gave English livery about 1300, first a household allowance of food or clothing to retainers.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1290 – The Livre Roisin uses it for clothes given by a lord to his retainers.^[2]
• c. 1300 – English borrows the Anglo-French form as livery.^[8]
• Late 14th century – Eustache Deschamps uses it for clothes in the colours of the master's arms.^[2]
• c. 1450 – Charles d'Orléans uses it for the distinctive colours of a thing.^[2]
• 1546 – Rabelais has livrée nuptiale, the ribbons given out at a wedding.^[2]
• 1606 – Nicot records the servants' uniform.^[2][3]
• 1674–1675 – Malebranche uses it for the outward signs of a condition.^[2]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie uses it in natural history.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) Clothing in the colours of a king's or lord's coat of arms, worn by the men of his household or following.^[9][10]
2. A livery: the uniform of the male servants of a great house, and today of the staff of some hotels: un chauffeur en livrée.^[9][11]
3. (dated) Porter la livrée: to be a servant.^[9]
4. (dated) The servants of a house as a group.^[9][3]
5. (historical) A lady's livrée: ribbons and pieces of cloth in her colours.^[9][2]
6. (literary) The outward signs of a condition or state.^[9][2]
7. (zoology) The coat or plumage characteristic of an animal, such as the spotted coat of a fawn.^[10][11]

Related words

• livrer
• English livery

Usage notes

Littré gives as a separate headword an old customary-law term livrée (from livre “pound”), a measure of land yielding a pound of rent, also called livre de terre; he quotes it from the 12th century (trente livrées).^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)