vernix

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Medieval Latin vernix (“varnish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvəːnɪks/

Noun

vernix (uncountable)

1. (medicine) Vernix caseosa; a fatty deposit covering the skin of newborn babies.
   • 2004, Armin A Brott, The New Father, Mitchell Beazley 2011, p. 21:

     The cheesy stuff is called vernix, and it's a natural moisturizer that protects the baby's skin while she's in the womb.

   • 2009, Sam Leith, The Guardian, 7 Nov 2009:

     But when – like Troy in the end of the film – you are presented for the first time with an angry, purple, bloody, vernix-covered, shit-smeared, breathing human being, everything changes.

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Latin

Alternative forms

• bernīx, veronīx

Etymology

Perhaps from Byzantine Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē), from Ancient Greek. Also perhaps from Sanskrit वर्ण (varṇa, “color”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯er.niːks/, [ˈu̯ɛrniːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈver.niks/, [ˈvɛrniks]

Noun

vernīx m (genitive vernīcis); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) varnish
2. (Medieval Latin) resin

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vernīx	vernīcēs
Genitive	vernīcis	vernīcum
Dative	vernīcī	vernīcibus
Accusative	vernīcem	vernīcēs
Ablative	vernīce	vernīcibus
Vocative	vernīx	vernīcēs

Derived terms

• vernīcium

Descendants

• Catalan: vernís
• English: varnish
• French: vernis
• Italian: vernice

• Portuguese: verniz
• Polish: werniks
• Spanish: barniz

References

• vernix in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• uernix in Ramminger, Johann (2015 May 22 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016