varnish

English

Alternative forms

• vernish (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English vernisch, vernish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin vernix, veronix, from Byzantine Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē, “Berenice”), a town in Cyrenaica, now called Benghazi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɑː(ɹ)nɪʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)nɪʃ

Noun

varnish (countable and uncountable, plural varnishes)

1. A type of paint with a solvent that evaporates to leave a hard, transparent, glossy film.
2. Anything resembling such a paint; glossy appearance.
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 12, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     the varnish of the holly and ivy

3. (by extension) A deceptively showy appearance.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     And set a double varnish on the fame / The Frenchman gave you.

4. (rail transport, US, informal, dated) a passenger train, probably derived from the varnished passenger cars used at one time.
   • 1959, David P. Morgan, editor, Steam's Finest Hour, Kalmbach Publishing Co.:

     Every transcontinental but two settled on the simple articulated for freight service, and all of them coupled their varnish to the 4-8-4.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Japanese: ワニス (wanisu)

Translations

Verb

varnish (third-person singular simple present varnishes, present participle varnishing, simple past and past participle varnished)

1. (intransitive) To apply varnish.
2. (transitive) To cover up with varnish.
3. (transitive) To make something superficially or deceptively attractive

   varnish the report

4. (transitive) To gloss over a defect.
   • 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”, in Essays: First Series:

     [...] Go love thy infant; love thy wood-chopper: be good-natured and modest: have that grace; and never varnish your hard, uncharitable ambition with this incredible tenderness for black folk a thousand miles off. Thy love afar is spite at home.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Harvins, Shirvan, hrivnas

Manx

Etymology

Borrowed from English varnish.

Noun

varnish f (genitive singular varnish, plural varnishyn)

1. varnish

Synonyms

• lossanagh

Derived terms

• varnish ingney (“nail varnish”)