Legal Dictionary

livery

Legal Definition of livery

Noun

  1. Delivery. An archaic legal word from the feudal system referring to the actual legal transmission of possession of an object to another.

    Example: A knight would obtain an estate in land as tenure in exchange for serving in the king's army for 40 days a year. The king would give exclusive possession of the land, (i.e. "livery") to the knight. A writ of livery also developed which allowed persons to sue for possession of land under the feudal system. Livery (or "delivery") of the land was important in completing legal possession or, as it was known in the feudal system, seisin.

Related terms

Definition of livery

Etymology

    From Anglo-Norman livere, from Old French livree.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA: /ˈlɪv.ɹɪ/, /ˈlɪv.ə.ɹɪ/
  • (US) IPA: /ˈlɪv.ə.ɹi/
  • Audio (US) [?]

Noun

livery (plural liveries)

  1. (law) The delivery of property from one owner to the next.

References:

  1. Wiktionary. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.



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