▪ I. tarnish, n.
(ˈtɑːnɪʃ)
[f. tarnish v.]
The fact of tarnishing or condition of being tarnished; loss of brightness, discoloration; stain, blemish; also concr. the substance of such discoloration; the tarnished coating. Also fig.
| 1713 Gentl. Instr. ii. ix. (ed. 5) 182 Care is taken to wash over the Foulness of the Subject with a pleasing Tarnish. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 580/2 The same Thing again is to be said of Tarnish, Discolouring, &c. from Time, the Air, &c. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. ii. xiii, Effacing the old rust and tarnish on the money. 1877 Dana Text-bk. Min. ii. (1891) 190 A surface possesses the steel tarnish, when it presents the superficial blue color of tempered steel. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 75 There are many metals, such as gold, which never exhibit rust or tarnish. |
▪ II. tarnish, v.
(ˈtɑːnɪʃ)
[ad. F. terniss-, extended stem of ternir, ternissant (15th c. in Godef.) (see -ish2), f. terne adj. dull, dark; of doubtful origin.
Referred by Diez and others to OHG. tarnan, MHG. ternen (= OS. dernjan, OE. diernan) to conceal, hide, f. OHG. tarni (OS. derni, OE. dierne, derne) hidden, secret, obscure. But there are difficulties, arising from the late appearance of the Fr. word, as well as from the form and sense. The change from tern- to tarn- appears to have taken place in English; but no example of ternish has been found.]
1. trans. To dull or dim the lustre of, to discolour (as a metallic surface by oxidation, etc.); to cause to fade; to spoil, wither.
| 1598 Florio, Ternire, to tarnish, to darken any glasse with breathing vpon it [1611 to tarnish or darken and mist⁓ouer, as burnished plate or glasse will be being breathed vpon]. 1709–10 Addison Tatler No. 121 ¶1 Her Clothes were very rich, but tarnished. 1726 Adv. Capt. R. Boyle (1768) 103 The Sun's tarnishing my Complexion. 1858 Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Philos., etc. 367 Whatever tarnishes or roughens the surface of metal, increases its radiation. |
b. fig. To take away from the purity of, cast a stain upon; to sully, taint; to bring disgrace upon.
| 1697 Collier Ess. ii. Value of Life (1698) 31 Nothing that may..tarnish the Glory, and weaken the Example of the Suffering. 1786 W. Thomson Watson's Philip III (1839) 355 Unwilling that his reputation should be tarnished. 1884 L. J. Jennings Croker Papers I. ii. 44 The naval glory of England was tarnished by the successes of the American naval force. |
2. intr. To grow dull, dim, or discoloured; to fade, wither; esp. of metals, to lose external brightness or lustre.
| 1678 Phillips (ed. 4) s.v., Any thing that is Gilded, is said to Tarnish, when it begins to lose its Luster [1706 to grow dull, to lose its Gloss, Lustre, or Brightness]. 1696 Tate & Brady Ps. cii. 27 And, like a Garment often worn Shall tarnish and decay. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 35 ¶9 The brass and pewter..are only laid up to tarnish again. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 75 Many metals rapidly rust or tarnish when exposed to even the driest air. |
b. fig. To become dull, dim, or sullied.
| 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 249 Till thy fresh glories, which now shine so bright, Grow stale, and tarnish with our daily sight. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France II. 102 Travellers who seek for images that never tarnish, and for truths that never can decay. 1810 Splendid Follies II. 95 The frailties of your nature predominated the glare of your riches,..from that hour they tarnished. |
Hence ˈtarnishing vbl. n. and ppl. a.; also ˈtarnishable a., that may tarnish or be tarnished; ˈtarnisher, one who or that which tarnishes.
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Tarnishing, a process of giving gold or silver a pale or dim cast, without either polish or burnish. 1864 Webster, Tarnisher. 1885 Proc. Roy. Soc. 7 May 340 A means of rendering tarnishable metals and alloys less tarnishable. 1894 Du Maurier Trilby II. 22 A tarnishing breath had swept over the reminiscent mirror of his mind. |