veneer

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From German Furnier, from furnieren (to inlay, cover with a veneer), from French fournir (to furnish, accomplish), from Middle French fornir, from Old French fornir, furnir (to furnish), from Old Frankish frumjan (to provide), from Proto-Germanic *frumjaną (to further, promote). Cognate with Old High German frumjan, frummen (to accomplish, execute, provide), Old English fremian (to promote, perform). More at furnish.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

veneer (countable and uncountable, plural veneers)

  1. A thin decorative covering of fine material (usually wood) applied to coarser wood or other material.
    • 1951 May, “British Railways Standard Coaches”, in Railway Magazine, pages 327-328:
      Compartment and corridor partitions are of blockboard, with appropriate decorative veneers to suit the varied interior decoration.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away, [].
  2. An attractive appearance that covers or disguises one's true nature or feelings.
    • 2014 December 5, “Joy From the World”, in The New York Times Magazine, retrieved 6 December 2014:
      “Yalda,” Dabashi says, “has managed to survive the centuries because it has been gently recodified with a Muslim veneer.”

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

veneer (third-person singular simple present veneers, present participle veneering, simple past and past participle veneered)

  1. (transitive, woodworking) To apply veneer to.
    to veneer a piece of furniture with mahogany
    • 1947 January and February, “South African Royal Train”, in Railway Magazine, page 36:
      The stateroom walls are veneered with finely figured English chestnut with the skirting and mouldings in English walnut.
  2. (transitive, figurative) To disguise with apparent goodness.

Coordinate terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Anagrams[edit]