garnish
/ˈɡäːnɪʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.04 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To warn by garnishment; to give notice to.
verb
To have (money) set aside by court order (particularly for the payment of alleged debts); to garnishee.
Example Sentences
- "And all within with flowres was garnished,"
- "1710, Joseph Addison, The Tatler, No. 163, 25 April, 1710, Glasgow: Robert Urie, 1754, p. 165, […] as that admirable writer has the best and worst verses of any among our English poets, Ned Softly has got all the bad ones without book, which he repeats upon occasion, to shew his reading, and garnish his conversation."
- "[…] the whip […] was garnished with a massive horse’s head of plated metal."
- "a dish garnished with a sprig/spray of parsley"
- "By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent."
- "[…] the good-humoured, affectionate-hearted Godfrey Cass was fast becoming a bitter man, visited by cruel wishes, that seemed to enter, and depart, and enter again, like demons who had found in him a ready-garnished home."
Etymology
From Middle English garnysshen, from Old French garniss-, stem of certain forms of the verb garnir, guarnir, warnir (“to provide, furnish, avert, defend, warn, fortify, garnish”), from a conflation of Old Frankish *warnijan (“to refuse, deny”) and *warnōn (“warn, protect, prepare, beware, guard oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *warnijaną (“to worry, care, heed”) and Proto-Germanic *warnōną (“to warn”); both from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to defend, protect, cover”). Cognate with Old English wiernan (“to withhold, be sparing of, deny, refuse, reject, decline, forbid, prevent from, avert”) and warnian (“to warn, caution, take warning, take heed, guard oneself against, deny”). More at warn.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɡäːnɪʃ/
- British English: /ˈɡɑːnɪʃ/