varnish

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US)(file)

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.
    • Macaulay
      the varnish of the holly and ivy
  3. (by extension) A deceptively showy appearance.
    • Shakespeare
      And set a double varnish on the fame / The Frenchman gave you.

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#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 gloss over a defect.

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Anagrams

Manx

Etymology

Borrowed from English varnish.

Noun

varnish f (genitive singular varnish, plural varnishyn)

  1. varnish

Synonyms

  • lossanagh

Derived terms

  • varnish ingney (“nail varnish”)
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.