▪ I. veneer, n.
(vɪˈnɪə(r))
Also 8 fanneer, vaneer, venear, 9 vineer.
[ad. G. furni(e)r, fourni(e)r, † fornier in the same sense: see next and veneering vbl. n. The loss of r in the unstressed first syllable also appears in Da. finer, Sw. fanér, Russ. fan{iacu}r.]
1. One of the thin slices or slips of fine or fancy wood, or other suitable material, used in veneering.
| 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3806/8 A Large Parcel of French Walnutt-Tree Venears will be exposed to Sale..on Thursday. 1806 Ann. Reg. (1808) 960/2 A new mode of cutting veneers, or thin boards. 1823 Macclesfield Courier in O. W. Roberts Voy. Centr. Amer. (1827) 302 The largest and finest log of mahogany ever imported into this country..sawn into vineers. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. §x. 372 Put in as many veneers as the liquor will cover. |
2. a. Material prepared for use in veneering, or applied to a surface by this or some similar process.
| 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. VII. ii. 43 This [ash] wood and walnut-tree..makes the best of fanneer. 1778 W. Pain Carpenter's Repository Pl. 56 A circular Plan..representing the Vaneer and Backing for the Stiles. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 586 By gluing several thicknesses of veneer upon each other. 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. Ser. iv. 212 The cabinet-maker buys the veneer in this rough state. Ibid., He cuts a piece of veneer. 1886 W. J. Tucker E. Europe 319 One of the legs [of the chair was] broken and the grand veneer knocked off the back. |
b. in veneer, in thin plates or slips.
| 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 333 Presents, ponderous with gold And ivory in veneer, commands he to be borne Unto the ships. |
3. fig. a. A merely outward show or appearance of some good quality. (Cf. varnish n.1 4.)
| 1868 Holme Lee B. Godfrey xxxii, A veneer of useful knowledge. 1874 Farrar Christ I. iv. 44 A savage barbarian with a thin veneer of corrupt and superficial civilisation. 1882 W. Ballantine Exper. xv. 148 [The] heartfelt courtesy..was replaced by a superficial veneer of forced politeness. |
b. Without article.
| 1871 Daily News 7 Dec., A gentleman with some polish—I was almost tempted to say with some veneer. 1883 Harper's Mag. July 165/2 These days of veneer and affectation in buildings and nomenclature. |
4. One or other of many species of moths of the genus Crambus or family Crambidæ; a grass-moth.
| 1819 G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 386 Crambus sanguinea. The buff-edged rosy Veneer. Ibid. 408 C. arborum. The yellow satin Veneer. 1832 Rennie Consp. Moths 215–9. |
5. Dentistry. = veneer crown in sense 6 below.
| 1930 G. M. Hollenback in I. G. Nicholls Prosthetic Dentistry xlii. 653 It..does not provide as good retention, nor as good support for the abutment tooth as a partial veneer. 1965 L. A. Weinberg Atlas Crown & Bridge Prosthodontics xii. 232/1 Plastic veneers or porcelain jacket restorations should be tried in the mouth before final finishing. 1975 D. Stananought Laboratory Procedures Inlays, Crowns & Bridges ii. 22 Full veneers may be constructed entirely in metal, or in a combination of metal with either acrylic resin or porcelain on the labial surface. |
6. attrib. and Comb., as veneer-cutter, veneer-making, veneer merchant, veneer-mill, veneer-room, veneer saw, veneer wood; veneer crown Dentistry, a crown in which the restoration is placed over the prepared surface of a natural crown.
Also veneer-press, and veneer-bending, veneer-cutting, veneer-planing, veneer-polishing, veneer-straightening machine (1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2699–2702).
| 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 148 The ‘veneer-rooms’ at such [pianoforte] factories are places of importance. 1852 Jerdan Autobiog. II. xiv. 181 He..purchased all the veneer wood which he could obtain. 1854 Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts (1867) II. 798/1 In all veneer saws the edge must run very true. Ibid., In saw-mills where veneers are cut, the arrangement of the segment saw is called a veneer-mill. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Veneer-cutter, one who saws furniture wood into thin lengths, by steam-power machinery. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 138/2 These methods of veneer-making. 1894 Daily News 8 June 8/4 Witnesses..who deposed to knowing prisoner in the characters of a veneer merchant, a tankard maker, and an inventor. 1927 Dental Cosmos LXIX. 951 The next application [of porcelain to dental restoration]..was the so-called porcelain veneer crown which was the progenitor of the present highly perfected porcelain-jacket crown. 1954 J. E. Ewing Fixed Partial Prosthesis xi. 61 The three-quarter partial veneer crown is primarily concerned with esthetics, for which function it owes its origin. 1975 D. Stananought Laboratory Procedures Inlays, Crowns & Bridges ii. 21 The restoration..may be a full veneer crown (shell crown) with the restoration covering the whole of the crown, or a partial veneer crown (three-quarter crown) with the labial or buccal surface of the crown excluded from the restoration. |
▪ II. veneer, v.
(vɪˈnɪə(r))
Also 8 vaneer, veneir.
[Later form (cf. next) of fineer v., ad. G. furni(e)ren, fourni(e)ren, ad. F. fournir furnish v. Cf. Da. finere, Sw. fanéra.]
1. trans. To apply or fix as veneering.
| 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Marquetry, All the Pieces thus formed with the Saw,..they vaneer or fasten each in its Place on the common Ground. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2700/2 To veneer marble on zinc. |
2. To cover or face with veneer.
Also occas. transf., to cover with a layer or facing of some different or superior material.
| 1742 Baskerville's Pat. in Sixth Rep. Dep. Kpr. App. ii. 156 To veneir the Frames of Printings and Pictures,..the fronts of Cabinets, Buroes, &c., now usually veneired with Ebony, Whalebone, &c. 1766 Entick London IV. 171 The pulpit is veneered, and carved with..figures. 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 206 We suppose our table..made either of solid mahogany or veneered upon deal. 1854 Tomlinson's Cycl. Usef. Arts (1867) II. 797/2 Pape, of Paris, some years ago, veneered a piano-forte entirely with ivory. 1874 Contemp. Rev. Oct. 758 Mr. Burges' proposal to veneer the lower part..with marble is objectionable. |
| transf. 1857 Dufferin Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3) 316 The salt-water bay..was veneered over with a pellicle of ice one-eighth of an inch in thickness. |
b. fig. To invest with a merely external or specious appearance of some commendable or attractive quality. Usu. const. with.
| 1847 Tennyson Princ. Prol. 117 And one the Master, as a rogue in grain Veneer'd with sanctimonious theory. 1868 Holme Lee B. Godfrey lxvi, Another lady of neglected education, whom..Elizabeth was veneering with thin plates of knowledge. 1872 J. C. Jeaffreson Brides & Bridals I. viii. 126 Paganism thinly veneered with Christianity. |
| absol. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 123 He? Veneers in first-rate style. The mahogany scales off now and then. |
c. To serve as a veneer to (something).
| 1875 M. Collins Sweet & Twenty II. ii. i. 175 He returned with a vast amount of polish, which, however, veneered a good deal of conceit. |
Hence veˈneered ppl. a.
| 1766 Entick London IV. 18 A carved pulpit, a veneered sounding-board. 1846 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 214 They are placed so that the veneered surface shall be grasped between the two clamps. 1875 Carpentry & Join. 140 The veneered furniture has ousted the more solid, trustworthy articles. |
| fig. 1884 Harper's Mag. Oct. 798/1 The thinly veneered Berserkir in the English race. |
| transf. 1889 Textile News 5 Apr. 26/2 The Hat Trade... Large quantities of coloured veneered goods are in demand from abroad. |