varnish

英文词源

varnish

varnish: [14] Varnish may come ultimately from Berenice (Greek Bereníkē), the name of a city in Cyrenaica, Libya, which was credited with the first use of varnishes. Bereníkē became a generic term in medieval Greek, and is thought to lie behind medieval Latin veronix ‘resin used in varnishes’, which passed into English via Old French vernis.

varnish (n.)

mid-14c., from Old French vernis "varnish" (12c.), from Medieval Latin vernix "odorous resin," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Late Greek verenike, from Greek Berenike, name of an ancient city in Libya (modern Bengasi) credited with the first use of varnishes. The town is named for Berenike II, queen of Egypt (see Berenice). Figurative sense of "specious gloss, pretense," is recorded from 1560s.

varnish (v.)

late 14c.; see varnish (n.). Related: Varnished; varnishing. Century Dictionary defines varnishing day as "A day before the opening of a picture exhibition on which exhibitors have the privilege of retouching or varnishing their pictures after they have been placed on the walls." The custom is said to date to the early years of 19c.