Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Varnish |
VarnishNoun1. Paint that provides a hard glossy transparent coating. Verb1. Cover with varnish. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "varnish" was first used: 1358. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Chemical Industry | Liquid preparation for protecting or decorating surfaces. Source: European Union. (references) |
Chemical Industry | Transparent protective coating based on natural or synthetic resins. Source: European Union. (references) |
Literature | Varnish from the French vernis; Italian, vernice. Sir G. C. Lewis says the word is a corruption of Berenice, famous for her amber hair, which was dedicated in the temple of Arsinoe, and became a constellation. (See Berenice .). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Varnish is a finish applied to wood or other surfaces in order to provide a clear, hard, durable, protective finish. There are many types of varnish, both natural and synthetic. Varnish finishes are often, although not always, glossy. As opposed to paint, which contains pigment, and is opaque, varnish has little or no color, and is transparent.After being applied, varnishes harden either by evaporation of a solvent, or by a chemical reaction.
Most natural varnishes consist of a gum or resin dissolved in a solvent. Depending on the solvent used, the three main types of natural varnish are spirit varnish (which uses alcohol as a solvent), turpentine varnish, and oil varnish. Spar varnish (also called marine varnish) is high quality waterproof and sunlight resistant varnish named for its use on the masts of ships (called spars). The word lacquer refers to quick-drying, solvent-based, varnishes or paints. Lacquer is also a very durable, slow-hardening, varnish obtained from the sap of a varnish tree. Shellac uses alcohol as a solvent. Although not a particularly durable varnish, shellac is sometimes used as a primer for paint or varnish.
Synthetic varnishes include urethane or polyurethane varnish, varnishes that use water as a solvent, and epoxy varnishes.
- See also desert varnish
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Varnish."
Synonym: VarnishSynonym: seal (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Covering | Coat, paint, varnish, pay, incrust, stucco, dab, plaster, tar; wash; besmear, bedaub; anoint, do over; gild, plate, japan, lacquer, lacker, enamel, whitewash; parget; lay it on thick. |
Veneer, facing; overlay; plate, silver plate, gold plate, copper plate; engobe; ormolu; Sheffield plate; pavement; coating, paint; varnish; (resin) a; plating, barrel plating, anointing; Verb: enamel; epitaxial deposition, vapor deposition; ground, whitewash, plaster, spackel, stucco, compo; cerement; ointment; (grease). | |
Falsehood | Garble, gloss over, disguise, give a color to; give a gloss, put a gloss, put false coloring upon; color, varnish, cook, dress up, embroider; varnish right and puzzle wrong; exaggerate; blague. |
Imbecility Folly | Phrase: Davus sum non; "a fool's bolt is soon shot" clitellae bovi sunt impositae; "fools rush in where angels fear to tread"; il n' a ni bouche ni eperon; "the bookful blockhead, ignorantly read"; "to varnish nonsense with the charms of sound". |
Ornament | Smarten, furbish, polish, gild, varnish, whitewash, enamel, japan, lacquer, paint, grain. |
Garnish, polish, varnish, French polish, veneer, japanning, lacquer. | |
Painting | Verb: paint, design, limn draw, sketch, pencil, scratch, shade, stipple, hatch, dash off, chalk out, square up; color, dead color, wash, varnish; draw in pencil; Noun: paint in oils; Noun: stencil; depict; (represent). |
Pallet, palette; easel; brush, pencil, stump; black lead, charcoal, crayons, chalk, pastel; paint; (coloring matter); watercolor, body color, oil color; oils, oil paint; varnish; a, priming; gouache, tempera, distemper, fresco, water glass; enamel; encaustic painting; mosaic; tapestry. | |
Reasoning, | Pervert, quibble; equivocate, mystify, evade, elude; gloss over, varnish; misteach; mislead; (error); cavil, refine, subtilize, split hairs; misrepresent; (lie). |
Resin | Verb: varnish. (overlay). |
Noun: resin, rosin; gum; lac, sealing wax; amber, ambergris; bitumen, pitch, tar; asphalt, asphaltum; camphor; varnish, copal, mastic, magilp, lacquer, japan. | |
Vindication | Extenuate, palliate, excuse, soften, apologize, varnish, slur, gloze; put a gloss, put a good face upon; mince; gloss over, bolster up, help a lame dog over a stile. |
Apology, gloss, varnish; plea; salvo; excuse, extenuating circumstances; allowance, allowance to be made; locus paenitentiae. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Title | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Nationally known for its beauty, the Paria Canyon has towering walls streaked with desert varnish, huge red rock amphitheaters, sandstone arches, wooded terraces, and hanging gardens. The 3,000-foot escarpment known as the Vermilion Cliffs dominates the remainder of the wilderness with its thick Navajo sandstone face, steep, boulder-strewn slopes and rugged arroyos. Some of the best canyon hiking opportunities on the Colorado River Plateau are found here. Credit: Unknown. |  | Irvington Varnish and Insulator Co., Newark, New Jersey. Entrance detail. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | National Paint, Varnish & Lacquer Association Inc. Clean-up, paint-up, fix-up campaign materials. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | Culture is one thing and varnish is another. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | In contrast, the evidence for effectiveness of fluoride varnish applied to primary teeth is incomplete and inconsistent. (references) | |
Almost all of the relevant studies involved populations of children between 6 and 15 years of age. The interventions included application of acidulated phosphate fluoride gel (APF), fluoride varnish, chlorhexidine gels, pit and fissure sealants, and the use of dentrifices and other products containing noncariogenic sweeteners. (references) | ||
When review of the evidence is confined to studies aimed at high-risk individuals, there is a relatively small number of methodologically strong, sufficiently large studies specifically addressing the effectiveness of primary prevention interventions, with the exception of fluoride varnish, for which there is fair evidence of effectiveness. (references) | ||
Business | The company focus is on paint and varnish waste, oil waste and solvent waste. (references) | |
The groups are oil waste, solvent waste, paint and varnish waste, glue waste, acid and alkaline waste, waste containing cadmium, waste containing mercury, waste containing heavy metals, waste containing cyanide, waste containing PCBs, pesticide waste and laboratory waste. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Varnish" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 90.60% of the time. "Varnish" is used about 298 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 90.6% | 270 | 17,892 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 5.7% | 17 | 85,106 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 3.69% | 11 | 106,044 |
| Total | 100.00% | 298 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "varnish": clear varnish ♦ desert varnish ♦ Japan varnish ♦ japanese varnish tree ♦ nail varnish ♦ nail varnish remover ♦ oil varnish ♦ opal varnish ♦ ormolu varnish ♦ Piney varnish ♦ rubbing varnish ♦ shellac varnish ♦ varnish over ♦ varnish remover ♦ varnish right and puzzle wrong ♦ varnish tree. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "varnish": varnish-crinkled, varnish-like, varnish-remover. | |
Ending with "varnish": nail-varnish, ormolu-varnish. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "varnish"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | vernik (dope, enamel, lacker, lacquer), zmalt (glaze), lustroj (buff, clean, furbish, gloss, gloss over, levigate, polish, rub up, whitewash), lustër (finishing, glaze, gloss, luster, lustre, polish, sheen, shine, whitewash), llakoj (lacker, lacquer, shellac), llak (enamel, lacker, lacquer), i jap një lustër (veneer). (various references) | |
Arabic | ورنيش (lacquer), ورنش, زين (apparel, bedeck, deck, dress, enhance, figure, gem, grace, hang, invest, ornament, paint, pattern, pipe, plate, prettify, prink, smarten, trick, trim), طلى (coat, render), طلاء الأظافر, طلاء (enamel, facing, gilding, glaze, grout, overlay, paint, size), جمل (beautify, bedeck, camel, conclude, embellish, enhance, finalize, garnish, improve, ornament, outline, precis, prettify, pretty, refine, smarten, sum up, summarize, totalize), البرنيق ورنيش, أخفى تحت مظهر كاذب, برنيق (hippopotamus, lake). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | шлифовам (cut, lap, planish, polish, smooth), маскировка (camouflage), замазвам (gloss, gloss over, lute, seal, slur over, smarm, smooth out, soft pedal, stifle, veneer), лъскавина (brightness, gloss, glossiness, luster, lustre, polish, sheen, shine, veneer), лъскам (brighten, furbish, glance, gloss, grind, polish, satin, scour, shine, smooth), лустровам, лустро (gloss, luster, lustre, polish, top dressing, veneer), лакирам (lacquer, polish), лак (lacker, lacquer, polish), прикритие (blind, cover, cover up, covering party, coverture, fig leaf, overlap, protection, screen), прикривам (clothe, conceal, cover, disguise, fog, hide, hide away, sink), полирам с лак (lacquer), политура (glaze, glazing, gloss, polish, veneer), излъсквам (abrade, gloss, polish up, refurbish, rub up). (various references) | |
Chinese | 油漆 (Paint), 油光漆 . (various references) | |
Czech | pozlátko (façade, gilt, gloss, gold leaf, tinsel, veneer), politura, přikrašlovat, natírat (coat, paint), nátìr (coating, overlay, paint, veneer), lakovat (idealize, paint), lak (lacquer, paint), glazurovat, glazura (glaze). (various references) | |
Danish | klarlak (clear lacquer), klar lak (Lacquer), fernis (lacquer). (various references) | |
Dutch | vernis (clear lacquer, lacquer), verlakken (lacquer, take in), lakken (lacquer). (various references) | |
Esperanto | verniso, laki (lacquer). (various references) | |
Farsi | لعاب زدن به , لاک الکل زدن به , لاک الکل , صیقلی کردن (Glass, Scour, Sleek, Urbanize), صیقل (Burnish), جلازدن به , جلادادن (Burnish, Japan, Polish, Surface), جلا (Buff, Burnish, Gloss, Japan, Polish), دارای ظاهرخوب کردن . (various references) | |
Finnish | lakka (cloudberry, lacquer, sealing-wax). (various references) | |
French | vernis. (various references) | |
Frisian | lak. (various references) | |
German | Lack (enamel varnish, lacquer, paint, paint work, polish), firnissen (lacquer, oil), Firnis (lacquer). (various references) | |
Greek | βερνικώνω (polishing, shellac), βερνίκι (dope, dye, lacker, lacquer, polish 1, varish). (various references) | |
Hebrew | למרוח לכ", ללכות, לכ" (lacquer, shellac), לצחצח (brush, furbish, polish, scour), זום (broth, gravy). (various references) | |
Hungarian | politúr (lacker, lacquer), lakk (dope, enamel, lacker, lacquer, lake). (various references) | |
Indonesian | pernis (lacquer), memulas (paint). (various references) | |
Italian | vernice (dye, enamel varnish, gloss, lacquer, Matt, paint, patent leather, polish). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 漆 (lacquer). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ニス , ワニス , うるし (lacquer), かしつ (accident, blunder, error, humidification). (various references) | |
Korean | 와니스. (various references) | |
Manx | varnish, lossanagh (aglow, auroral, blazing, bright, flaming, flaring, genial, impassioned, inflamed, inflammable, luminous, phosphorescent), cur varnish er, cur lossanagh er. (various references) | |
Papiamen | vernis, fernis. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arnishvay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | verniz (coat, glaze, glossiness, lacquer, lake, polish), envernizar (dope, glaze, japan, lacquer). (various references) | |
Romanian | vernisa, spoialã (gloss, smattering, veneer, whitewashing), spoi (gild, silver, tin, veneer, whiten, whitewash), smalţ (enamel, glaze, veneer), smãlţui (anneal, enamel, veneer), poleialã (foil, gilding, tinsel, veneer), polei un defect, lustruit (glazed, glossy, lustrous, polished, sleek), lustru (gloss, glossiness, luster, lustre, lustrum, polish, shallowness, shine, veneer), lac (flood, lacquer, lake, Loch, Lough, mere, pond), lãcui (lacquer), emaila (enamel, glaze, veneer), email (enamel, veneer), acoperi (adorn, bedeck, cap, cloak, conceal, cover, deck, defilade, defray, disguise, Harbor, harbour, hide, hood, mantle, obfuscate, overgrow, overlap, overlay, overspread, paint, pepper, protect, roof, sheathe, shelter, sow, span, straw, suffuse, top, veil). (various references) | |
Russian | глянец (glaze, gloss, glossiness, luster, lustre, polish, sheen), глазурь (enamel, frosting, glaze, salt-glaze), лоск (gloss, glossiness, luster, lustre, polish), лак (dope, lacker, lacquer, nail polish, patent leather), полировать лак. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | lakirati (lacquer), lak (cyclecar, easy, facile, go easy, lac, lacker, lacquer, lakh, light, light weight, lightweight, soft), glazura (cake ice, frosting, glaze, topping, veneer), glazirati, firnajz. (various references) | |
Spanish | barniz (dope, glaze, gloss, veneer). (various references) | |
Swedish | fernissa (dope, lacquer, veneer), lackera (lacquer), lack (lacquer, patent leather, sealing wax, sealing-wax). (various references) | |
Thai | น้ำยาทาเล็บ (nail polish, nail varnish). (various references) | |
Turkish | verniklemek (dope, Japan, lacquer, varnish over), vernik (dope, Japan, lacquer, polisher), yapmacık kibarlık, sırlamak (enamel, glaze, silver, veneer, vitrify), emaye (enamel, glazing), dış görünüş (appearance, color, colour, disguise, externals, façade, fashion, get up, guise, rind, semblance, shape, shell, superficies, surface, the outer man), cilalamak (apply polish, blanch, burnish, finish, furbish, give a polish, gloss, luster, polish, shine, surface, veneer, wax), cila (chaser, dope, finish, finishing, glaze, glazing, gloss, luster, lustre, polish, polisher, polishing, rubbing varnish, shine, veneer, veneering, wax). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | глянс (satin-finish, shine), оліфа (oil varnish), надавати блиску (polish up), лакувати (dope, lacker, lacquer), лакування, лак (lacker, lacquer, oil varnish), прикрашати (adorn, apparel, beautify, bedeck, bespread, brighten, caparison, color, colour, deck, decorate, dress, dress out, embellish, embroider, flatter, garnish, gloss over, grace, needle, ornament, ornamentalize, prettify, set forth, smug, sugar coat, trim, trim up). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | véc ni, lớp sơn bên ngo i. (various references) | |
Welsh | barneisio, barnais, arlliw (shade, tint, trace). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Medieval Latin | 700-1500 | vernix. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | vernis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "varnish": varnished, varnisher, varnishers, varnishes, varnishing, varnishy. (additional references) | |
Words containing "varnish": unvarnished. (additional references) | |
| |
"Varnish" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ardnish, arnish, Avinash, Varanus, vearnish, verbish, Vorlich. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "varnish" (pronounced vÄ"rnish) |
| 5 | -Ä" r n i sh | garnish. |
| 4 | -r n i sh | corniche. |
| 3 | -n i sh | admonish, astonish, banish, diminish, finish, minish, punish, refinish, replenish, vanish. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-h-i-n-r-s-v" | |
-1 letter: arshin, invars, ravins, ravish, shairn, vanish. | |
-2 letters: airns, hairs, invar, naris, rains, ranis, ravin, sarin, savin, sharn, shiva, vairs, vinas. | |
-3 letters: ains, airn, airs, anis, hair, hins, hisn, rain, rani, rash, rias, rins, sain, sari, shin, shiv, shri, sinh, vain, vair, vans, vars, vina, visa. | |
-4 letters: ain, air, ais, ani, ars, ash, has, hin. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-h-i-n-r-s-v" | |
+1 letter: enravish, vanisher, varnishy. | |
+2 letters: ravishing, reshaving, vanishers, varnished, varnisher, varnishes. | |
+3 letters: enravished, enravishes, hantavirus, harvesting, ravishment, revanchism, revanchist, unravished, vanquisher, varnishers, varnishing, vinegarish. | |
+4 letters: enravishing, ravishingly, ravishments, revanchisms, revanchists, shivareeing, unvarnished, vanquishers, vibraphones. | |
+5 letters: apprehensive, earthmovings, hantaviruses, unchivalrous, vaporishness, venographies, vibraphonist. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
