varnish--prophetes.ai

▪ I. varnish, n.¹
    (ˈvɑːnɪʃ)
    Forms: α. 4 vernisshe, 4, 6 vernysshe, 5 -nyshe, -nysche, -nesche; 4 vernisch, 5 vernysh (wernysch), 6–8 vernish; 4, 7 vernich; 6 vernize, Sc. verneis, vernes, vernys, 7 vernis, -nice. β. 6 varnysch, 6– varnish (7 -nishe); 6 Sc. varneyis, 7 varnes.
    [ad. OF. vernis (varnis), verniz (12th c.), = Prov. vernis, -nitz, Pg. verniz, It. vernice, Cat. barnis, Sp. barniz, of unknown origin. Cf. med.L. vernicium and vernix (bernix), med. Gr. βερνίκη, mod.Gr. βερνίκι. French is also the source of MHG. firnîs, G. firnis(s, Du. vernis, Da. fernis, Sw. fernissa.]
    1. a. Resinous matter dissolved in some liquid and used for spreading over a surface in order to give this a hard, shining, transparent coat, by which it is made more durable or ornamental.
    In early use, dry resinous matter for making a solution of this kind.

α 1341–2 Ely Sacr. Rolls II. 121 In vj libr. de albo vernich, prec. lbr. iijd. 1358 in Pipe Roll 32 Edw. III m. 34/1 b, In .iiij. Mill'de vernisshe; .v. lb de vermeillone. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 70 Venim or vernisch or vinegre, I trouwe, Walleþ in my wombe. 14.. in Reliq. Ant. I. 163 For to make wernysch.—Take a galon of good ale, and put thereto iij ounces of gumme of Arabyke [etc.]. 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 349 My mastyr receyvid of Fynches man of Colchestre a li. of vernyshe, pryse .vj.d. 1501 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. II. 64 For iij vnce quhit vernys. 1507 Ibid. IV. 90 Caddes, verneis, rede lede. 1530 Palsgr. 284/2 Vernysshe, uernys. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xv. 99 b, They vse by continuall artifice Terebinthe and vernish. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres 135 Aqua vitæ, liquid vernize, arsenike. 1633 Hart Diet of Diseased i. xvii. 69 The oile of walnuts is..used..by painters for vernice. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 285 Apelles..did by an inimitable invention anoint his finished workes with..a thinne kinde of inke or vernish. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magic xvi. 341 Powder Iuniper-gum, which Scriveners call Vernish, and add it to the rest. 1706 Stevens Span. Dict. i, Barniz, Vernish.

β 1546 Inv. Ch. Goods Surrey 106 Item for ij lb. of varnysch, ij s. viij d. 1620 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 244 Three pound of varnishe for the caroache, xxj{supd}. 1658 Phillips, Varnish, is that wherewith a picture is rubbed over to make it shine and have a glosse; there is also a ground or varnish which is laid upon a plate that is to be etched. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Wounds, Let him drop some Varnish with a Feather to the bottom. 1773 Cook's Voy. (1777) II. iii. xi. 146 As we had neither pitch, tar, nor rosin, left to pay the seams, this was done with varnish of pine. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 86 As wood, and many other substances..are porous and apt to imbibe water,..it is proper to give them a coat of varnish. 1842 Lever J. Hinton x, Like the varnish upon a picture, it brings out all the colour into strong effect. 1894 S. R. Bottone Elect. Instr. 60 When the sectors are firmly stuck down to the glass, and the varnish quite dry.

transf. 1784 Cowper Task i. 40 Now came the cane from India, smooth and bright With Nature's varnish.

b. With a and pl. A special preparation of this nature.
Many varieties are enumerated in special works from Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. (1753) onwards.

α 1667 Phil. Trans. II. 417 How, in China and Japan, they make the Black-vernish. Ibid. 487 This Author mentions..their [sc. Chinese] Vernice, of which he sets down some Receipts both for the Red and Black. 1676 Ibid. XI. 714 An Oyl, of which the Persians make a Vernis.

β 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 420 A pattent is past for the invention of a varnish to preserve guns, &c. from rust. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The Varnishes used by the Chinese are two. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VIII. 24 It is only formed by a beautiful brown varnish, laid upon a white ground. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 538 Dragon's blood..is used also to give a red colour to varnishes. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 235 In using the varnishes..care must be taken not to apply too great a quantity of them to the surface of the calico.

c. A solution of this kind spread on a surface; the coating or surface so formed.

1643 Plain English 13 Posts whose varnish is..worne off. 1662 Evelyn Chalcogr. 9 Not much unlike to our Etching with points and Needles on the Vernish. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 33/1 Lime..for plaistering..gives the best varnish to the Work. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. ii, All things were in a state of high varnish and polish. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. ix. 240 When it was found that all chemical precipitates radiated alike, it was the radiation from a varnish common to them all which showed the observed constancy.

transf. 1715 Pope Ep. Addison 37 This the blue varnish, that the green endears, The sacred rust of twice ten hundred years! 1819 Scott Ivanhoe iii, By encrusting them with a black varnish of soot. 1838 Emerson Addr., Literary Ethics Wks. (Bohn) II. 207 The sense of spiritual independence is like the lovely varnish of the dew.

fig. 1835 Lytton Rienzi iv. iii, The varnish of power brings forth at once the defects and the beauties of the human portrait. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Behaviour Wks. (Bohn) II. 380 They [manners] form at last a rich varnish, with which the routine of life is washed. 1884 Pall Mall G. 29 Feb. 1/2 There is a film of Levantine varnish around the court at Constantinople.

d. A preparation of boiled oil (or other substances) used in the making of printers' ink.

1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 445 The oil is..boiled gently till it acquires the proper consistence. In this state it is called the varnish. 1841 T. C. Hansard Printing & Type-f. 106 The next..article is nut or linseed oil boiled and burnt into a varnish.

e. A medical preparation resembling a varnish, for application to the skin.

1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 582 Both tar and pyrogallol work better as paints and varnishes than the chrysa⁓robin.

f. A resinous deposit formed in engines by the oxidation of fuel and lubricating oils.

1948 A. P. Fraas Combustion Engine viii. 241 The resins may deposit with the sludge or may form thin adherent coatings on engine parts. In the latter case the coatings are called varnish or lacquer because of their appearance. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 26 Mar. i. 1/2 Don't be fooled by slow cranking because ‘varnish’ on the pistons will cause so much drag that a hot engine may resist cranking until it cools. 1981 Pop. Hot Rodding Feb. 84/1 Oxidation produces new compounds, loosely termed sludge, varnish and acid, which are detrimental to the lubrication system.

2. fig. a. A specious gloss or outward show; a pretence.

1565 Jewel Reply Harding (1611) 438 This of late yeeres was the Schoole-doctours Catholike meaning,..which now M. Harding and his Fellowes are faine for shame, to colour ouer with some finer Vernish. 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 362 God will not be dallyed with; this outward varnish cannot bleare His eyes. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xliv. (1739) 71 For the better varnish, the Duke would not be his own Judge. 1765 Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 163 It is impossible to get the least certain intelligence from thence, as nothing comes out of the closet but with a double varnish. 1782 V. Knox Ess. lvii. (1819) II. 1 Qualities, which, when seen in their true light, and without the varnish of deceit, are peculiarly unpleasing. 1843 Prescott Mexico (1850) I. 285 The affectation of legal forms afforded him a thin varnish for his proceedings. 1844 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 291 Women will..always give a varnish of duty to their inclinations. 1895 C. Graham Notes Menteith i. 7 Convention has lent a thin varnish of hypocrisy to manners.

b. Without article.

1743 Lond. Mag. 346 The authentick Gazette, which..never once dealt in Puff or Varnish, but told the Truth. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. xv, From the clerk of the kitchen I required the buttery accounts without varnish or concealment. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Plato Wks. (Bohn) I. 308 This eldest Goethe, hating varnish and falsehood, delighted in revealing the real at the base of the accidental.

3. a. A means of embellishment or adornment; a beautifying or improving quality or feature.

1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. ii. 1150 Though..Divinity, For only varnish, have but Verity. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 233, I might enamell..this deuice more artificially and masterly, and attire it in his true orient varnish and tincture. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. 27 My intent is without varnish or amplification, iustly to weigh the dignitie of knowledge in the ballance with other things. 1671 Panton Spec. Juv. Ded., Though it have not the Romantick varnish of stile, worthy your Majestie's view and regard. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 364 ¶1 This last Qualification..serves as a Varnish to all the rest. 1727 S. Switzer Pract. Gard. lxxviii. 392 Neatness and politure ought now..to serve for a varnish to the alleys and the dress'd grounds. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home (1883) I. 246 A cloudy and rainy day takes the varnish off the scenery.

b. Gloss, brilliancy.

1841 T. C. Hansard Printing & Type-f. 107 The turpentine is added to give greater varnish [to the ink].

4. An external appearance or display of some quality without underlying reality. (Cf. veneer n.)

1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ ii. ii. §8 He lived long enough to have..judgement to distinguish a meer outside and varnish, from what was solid and substantial. 1776 Gibbon Lett. Holroyd 20 May, I..laugh at her Paris varnish, and oblige her to become a simple reasonable Suissesse. 1778 F. Burney Diary 23 Aug., Such a fine varnish of low politeness!—such a struggle to appear a gentleman! 1840 Thirlwall Greece lv. VII. 113 New forms..destitute of life and reality, an empty varnish. 1853 Merivale Rom. Rep. iv. (1867) 100 But this varnish of superior culture seems to have failed in softening a rough plebeian nature. 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. iv. 65 The youth comes up with a varnish of accomplishment beyond his real powers.

5. attrib. and Comb., as varnish brush, varnish gum, varnish-house, varnish-maker, varnish pot, varnish-remover, varnish-sector; varnish-like adj.; varnish sumach, the Japanese tree Rhus vernicifera from which lacquer is obtained; varnish-tree, one or other of various trees yielding a resinous substance used as a varnish.

1859 F. S. Cooper Ironmongers' Catal. 38 *Varnish Brushes.

1892 Daily News 13 Feb. 7/3 Cinchona..bark sold well, but *varnish gums generally eased off.

1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1269 Crystal varnish may be made..in the *varnish-house.

1916 Nature 25 May 269/2 Boiled linseed oil on exposure to the air is converted by oxidation into a hard *varnish⁓like product. 1965 Finer & Savage Sel. Lett. J. Wedgwood 13 The ancient red-figure vases were decorated by reserving the figures on a red pottery ground, surrounding them with a black varnishlike slip.

1753 Chambers' Cycl. Supp., Spike,..an essential oil, much used by the *varnish-makers and the painters in enamel. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1267 The choice of linseed oil is of peculiar consequence to the varnish-maker.

1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 739 Put the copal, coarsely pulverized, into a *varnish pot.

1965 P. D. Samman Nails in Disease ix. 83 Nail varnish and *varnish removers and excess manicuring may be of some importance aetiologically. 1973 C. Williams Man on Leash ix. 131 That crap they shot into my arm. Battery solution or varnish remover.

1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. IV. xli. 126 *Varnish-secretor (Colleterium)... In the cabbage butterfly there is a pair of ovate ones [sc. oviduct vessels],..filled with a yellow fluid, which Reaumur and Herold think is used for varnishing or gumming the eggs.

1822–7 Good Stud. Med. (1829) IV. 685, I mean several of the acrid poisons, as..rhus vernix, *varnish sumach.

1758 Phil. Trans. L. 453 He says, speaking of this true *varnish-tree, that callicuts are painted with the juice of this shrub. Ibid. 448, I suppose he means, by this true varnish-tree, the Carolina pennated Toxicodendron. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVI. 147/2 The theetsee, or varnish-tree of the Burmese, has been described and figured by Dr. Wallich, by the name of Melanorrhœa usitata. He identified it with the Kheu, or varnish-tree of Munnipore. 1866 Treas. Bot. 443/1 The natives speak of the tree producing this resin, E[læagia] utilis, as the Wax tree or Varnish tree. Ibid. 1204/2.

▪ II. ˈvarnish, n.²
    Also 7 vernish.
    [f. the vb.]
    An act of varnishing; an application of varnish.

1601 Holland Pliny II. 515 If you be desirous to keepe any yron-worke from rust, give it a vernish with cerusse, plastre, and tar, incorporat all together. 1755 Dict. Arts & Sci. s.v. Japanning, If it be not well done, polishing will be necessary, for which reason you must give it five or six varnishes more.

▪ III. varnish, v.
    (ˈvɑːnɪʃ)
    Forms: α. 4–6 vernysshe, 5 vernysche (-nyschyn), 6 wernysh-, 6–8 vernish, 6 Sc. vernes-. β. 5 varnesch-, 6 Sc. varneis, warnis, 6– varnish.
    [ad. OF. verniss(i)er, vernic(i)er (F. vernisser), or verniss-, vernir, f. vernis varnish n. Cf. med.L. and It. verniciare, Pg. envernizar, Sp. barnizar.]
    1. a. trans. To paint over, to coat, with varnish; to overlay with a thin coating composed of varnish.

1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xxiii. (Bodl. MS.), Bokes þat beþ yvarnesched with þe gomme þerof beþ nouȝt iȝete wiþ wormes. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 509/1 Vernyschyn, vernicio. 1530 Palsgr. 765/2 I vernysshe a spurre, or any yron with vernysshe, je vernis. Come hyther, spurryer, be my spurres well vernysshed. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 12 Some had their armyng sweardes freshly burnyshed and some had them conningly vernished. 1589 A. Hume Poems (S.T.S.) 55 Corslets of pruif, and mony targe of steill, Sum varneist bright, sum dorred diuerslie. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxix. 288 They bringe likewise from this Province oyle of Aspicke, which..Painters vse much..to vernish the pictures. 1697 J. Potter Antiq. Greece iii. xv. (1715) 127 Several other Colours were also made use of, nor were they barely varnish'd over with them, but very often anneal'd by Wax melted in the Fire. 1702 W. J. tr. Bruyn's Voy. Levant xxxvii. 147 Plaister varnish'd with a green colour. 1755 Dict. Arts & Sci. s.v. Japanning. With a pencil varnish it over with the finest white varnish. 1821 Craig Lect. Drawing, etc. ii. 112 These pictures, I am persuaded, were afterwards constantly varnished. 1861 T. A. Trollope La Beata I. vii. 152 The copy..was not to be sent home till it had been varnished.

absol. 1573 Art Limming (1588) 9 If you will vernish on silver, then take the Almon of Bengewyne. a 1817 Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) III. xi. 234 He drew, he varnished, he carpentered.

b. transf. To invest with a bright or glossy appearance; to smear or stain with some substance similar to varnish.

c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 229 Wel hath the myller vernysshed his heed, Ful pale he was, for-dronken, and nat reed. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 53 Ful pale drunke, weel vernyssht of visage. Ibid. 54 And whan thou hast weel vernyssht thi pate, To take a sleepe in hast thou wolt the dresse. 1589 Greene Tullies Love Wks. (Grosart) VII. 117, I found him in his bed chamber, his wife slaine And the blade yet varnished with bloud, grasped in his fist. a 1618 Sylvester Spectacles xxxiii. Wks. (Grosart) II. 300 The Leaves fresh varnisht lively green, The Blossoms various to be seen. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 11 Her eyes are..of a pure golden colour, most admirable to behold, especially when varnish'd with a full light. a 1733 Ramsay Tartana 17 You who..Drain from the flow'rs the early dews of May, To varnish on your cheek the crimson dye. 1841 Maunder Sci. & Lit. Treas. (1848) s.v. Scarabæus, The colour [of the Scarabæus auratus] is most brilliant, highly varnished, and of a golden green. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. x, Next morning, that horrible old Lady Tippins begins to be dyed and varnished for the interesting occasion.

2. To embellish or adorn; to improve, trick out, furbish up.

14.. Sir Beues (MS. C.) 3777 Blak sendel and..rede, Vernysched wiþ rosys off syluyr bryȝt. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 450 The Elizabeth of Euphues being but shadowed for others to vernish, but begun for others to ende. 1589 Nashe Martin Marprelate Wks. (Grosart) I. 189 All my foolerie I bequeath to my good friend Lanam;..it..may serue (perhappes) for yong beginners, if it be newe varnished. 1639 G. Daniel Vervic 720 My Name, which stood The Boast of Fame, I varnish't with my Blood. 1699 Bentley Phal. 162 To dress up and to varnish the Story of Pausanias. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) II. 154 Which were set off with all the fulsome Rhetorick that the penners could varnish them with. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France II. 374 [Here is] old Franck's Seven Acts of Mercy varnished up. 1887 Huxley in Life (1900) II. 154 It will go on and be varnished into a simulacrum of success.

3. To cover or overlay with a specious or deceptive appearance; to gloss over, disguise.

1571 Golding Calvin on Ps. iv. 3 Though they be wylfully blind & vernish their unryghtuousnesse with counterfet colours. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §15 The church of Rome hath hitherto practised and doth profess the same adoration to the sign of the cross,..howsoeuer they varnish and qualifie their sentence. 1641 Milton Reform. Wks. 1851 III. 11 But what doe wee suffer..Prelatisme, as we do, thus to blanch and varnish her deformities with the faire colours..of Episcopacie? 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Skiamachia Wks. (1711) 198 Wicked Counsels may be varnished with the shining Oil of sly Pretences. 1713 Addison Cato ii. ii, Cato's voice was ne'er employed To clear the guilty, and to vernish crimes. 1783 Blair Rhet. xxv. (1812) II. 160 The art of varnishing weak arguments plausibly. 1835 Woman II. 241 The female character of this day is varnished, not polished. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. xx. 520 He does not varnish—he does not even polish vice. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. iii. 134 A corrupt heart thinly varnished by a coating of affectation.

4. With over (in senses 2 and 3).

1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. Wks. 1851 III. 103 God..never intended to leave the Government..to be patch't afterwards, and varnish't over with the devices..of mans imagination. 1643 Denham Cooper's H. 125 And yet this Act, to varnish o'r the shame Of Sacriledge, must bear Devotions Name. 1694 Addison England's Greatest Poets Misc. Wks. 1726 I. 38 Or had the Poet ne'er profan'd his pen, To vernish o'er the guilt of faithless men. 1719 Young Busiris iii. i, O, how can you abuse your sacred reason,..To varnish o'er, and paint, so black a crime! ? 1773 Macpherson Ossian's Poems, Dissert. Concern. æra of Ossian (1785) II. 227 When they [sc. poets] found their themes inadequate to the warmth of their imaginations, they varnished them over with fables. 1824 Syd. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 193 He may hide it by increased zeal and violence, or varnish it over by simulated gaiety. 1871 R. H. Hutton Theol. Ess. iii. (1888) 49 To varnish over these distinctions.

Hence ˈvarnishing ppl. a.

1796 Mod. Gulliver 203 The mischiefs flowing from my fallacious varnishing pamphlet were not thought of.