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garnish

gar·nish

UK/ˈɡɑɹ.nɪʃ/ US/ˈɡɑːnɪʃ/ uncommon archaic obsolete slang us

noun

1.

something (such as parsley) added to a dish for flavor or decoration

verb

1.

take a debtor''s wages on legal orders, such as for child support

  • “His employer garnished his wages in order to pay his debt”
Synonyms
2.

decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods

Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • all garnish and no meat
  • garnish bolt

Related words

Word family

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.