garnish

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɑːnɪʃ/ (UK); /ˈɡɑɹnɪʃ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English garnishen, borrowed from Old French garnir (“to provide, furnish; fortify”) (stem garniss-),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} of Germanic origin, from Frankish *warnjan,^[4] related to Old High German warnōn (“to take heed”) and English warn.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

To decorate, adorn (about 1380);^[3][4] also in Middle English to fortify a place or arm oneself for battle (before 1400).^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense developed from “arm oneself” to “fit out” to “embellish”.^[4] The culinary sense, “to decorate a dish for the table”, appears in 1693 and has predominated since about 1700;^[7][3][4] the noun for such a decoration dates from 1673.^[7][3][4] The older sense of giving warning survives in law: to garnish is to serve notice of the attachment of a debtor's money or property (before 1577),^[3][4] whence garnishee and garnishment.^[3] A garnish was also money extorted from a new prisoner by jailers or fellow inmates (1592).^[7][2]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – verb, to decorate.^[3][4]
• 1418 – noun, a set of pewter tableware (obsolete).^[7]
• before 1577 – verb, in law, to serve notice of attachment.^[3][4]
• 1592 – money extorted from a new prisoner.^[7]
• 1673 – noun, a decoration for food.^[7][3][4]
• 1693 – verb, to decorate a dish.^[7][3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To decorate (food or drink) with small savoury or colourful items, such as parsley or lemon slices.
2. To embellish or adorn.
3. (law) To garnishee: to seize (a debtor's wages or property) by legal process.

Noun

1. Something added to food or drink for decoration or flavour.
2. Ornamentation; embellishment.
3. (historical) A fee extorted from a new prisoner by jailers or other inmates.

Word family

• garnisher
• garnishee
• garnishment

Related words

• garment
• garniture
• warn
• garrison

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press