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tarnish

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English ternysshen, from Old French terniss-, stem of ternir (“to make dim, make wan”), borrowed from Old High German *ternen, tarnen, from Proto-West Germanic *darnijan (“to conceal”). Doublet of dern and darn.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tarnish (usually uncountable, plural tarnishes)

  1. Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.
    • 1918, Hannah Teresa Rowley, Mrs. Helen Louise (Wales) Farrell, Principles of Chemistry Applied to the Household
      Precipitated calcium carbonate, a very fine powdery form, is used as a basis for many tooth powders and pastes. As whiting it finds a wide use in cleaning metals of their tarnishes.
    • 1987 July 30, Joseph Deitch, “Removing Tarnish From Silverware”, in The New York Times‎[1]:
      Limiting the use of silver to special occasions might invite tarnish unless the pieces are carefully protected.

Translations

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Verb

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tarnish (third-person singular simple present tarnishes, present participle tarnishing, simple past and past participle tarnished)

  1. (intransitive) To oxidize or discolor due to oxidation.
    Synonyms: oxidate, oxygenize
    Hyponyms: patinate, rust
    Careful storage of silver will prevent it from tarnishing.
  2. (transitive) To compromise, damage, soil, or sully.
    Synonyms: (literal) befoul, inquinate; (figurative) denigrate, blot; see also Thesaurus:dirty, Thesaurus:defame
    He is afraid that she will tarnish his reputation if he disagrees with her.
    • 1839, Alexander Kinmont, “Lecture the Eighth; On the Unity in Variety of the Human Race”, in Twelve Lectures on the Natural History of Man, and the Rise and Progress of Philosophy, Cincinnati: U. P. James, page 232:
      I have next shown you the Greeks, and " the wisdom" of their philosophy, often travesting, sometimes tarnishing the Christian religion : […]
    • 1991 April 7, “Players' Greed Tarnishes Game”, in The New York Times‎[2]:
      The greed that many players show tarnishes the game.
    • 2022 March 11, David Hytner, “Chelsea are in crisis but there is no will to leave club on their knees”, in The Guardian‎[3]:
      There are normally anti-embarrassment clauses in such arrangements and, from a corporate social responsibility point of view, the upside of standing by a tarnished individual is often outweighed by the downside.
  3. (intransitive, figurative) To lose its lustre or attraction; to become dull.
    Synonyms: dull, dullen, leaden, pall
  4. (copyright law) To use a sign, image, expression, etc. sufficiently close to a trademarked one that it brings disrepute to it.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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