burnish

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɜːnɪʃ/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɝnɪʃ/ Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nɪʃ Hyphenation: burn‧ish === Etymology 1 === The verb is derived from Middle English burnishen, burnysshen (“to polish, burnish; (figuratively) to brighten, give lustre to; to clean (something) until shiny; to decorate (with something shiny), adorn”) [and other forms], from burniss-, a stem of Old French burnir (compare, for example, the first-person present singular indicative form burnis), a variant of brunir (“to make clean and shiny, polish; to make brown”) (modern French brunir), from Frankish *brūnijan (“to polish, make resplendent”), from Proto-Germanic *brūnijaną (“to decorate; tan”), from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz (“brown”, adjective), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”, adjective). Doublet of brown and brunneous; unrelated to burn. The noun is derived from the verb. ==== Verb ==== burnish (third-person singular simple present burnishes, present participle burnishing, simple past and past participle burnished) (transitive) To make (something, such as a surface) bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; to polish, to shine. Synonyms: buff, furbish; see also Thesaurus:rub Of a stag: to remove the velvet (“skin and fine fur”) from (its antlers) by rubbing them against something; to velvet. (figuratively) To make (someone or something) appear positive and highly respected. (intransitive) To become bright, glossy, and smooth; to brighten, to gleam, to shine forth. ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Derived terms ===== burnished (adjective) burnisher burnishing (noun) burnishment reburnish ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== burnish (countable and uncountable, plural burnishes) (countable) A shine of something which has been polished; a lustre, a polish. A shiny layer applied to a surface or other thing. (uncountable) The making of something bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; (countable) an instance of this; a burnishing, a polishing, a shining. ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From Middle English barnishen, barnish (“to grow big (with child), to become pregnant; to grow stout or strong”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from barn (“child, offspring; infant; unborn child; human being, person; male person, man (especially a young man or young warrior)”). (from Old English bearn (“child”), from Proto-West Germanic *barn (“child”), from Proto-Germanic *barną (“child”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”)) + -ishen (suffix forming verbs). ==== Verb ==== burnish (third-person singular simple present burnishes, present participle burnishing, simple past and past participle burnished) (intransitive, obsolete except British, dialectal) Of a person's body: to grow large or stout; to fatten, to fill out. (by extension) Of a thing: to increase in size; to expand, to spread out, to swell. ===== Translations ===== === References === === Further reading === burnishing (metal) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia burnishing (pottery) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia burnishing (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Joseph Wright, editor (1898), “BARNISH, v.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume I (A–C), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 171.