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单词 burnish
释义

burnish

English

WOTD – 14 December 2022

Pronunciation

A picture frame being covered with gold leaf and burnished (etymology 1, verb sense 1.1) with a tool called a burnisher.
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɜːnɪʃ/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɝnɪʃ/
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nɪʃ
  • Hyphenation: burn‧ish

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from Middle English burnishen, burnysshen (“to polish, burnish; (figuratively) to brighten, give lustre to; to clean (something) until shiny; to decorate (with something shiny), adorn”) [and other forms],[1] from burniss-, a stem of Old French burnir (compare, for example, the first-person present singular indicative form burnis), a variant of brunir (“to make clean and shiny, polish; to make brown”) (modern French brunir),[2] from Frankish *brūnijan (“to polish, make resplendent”), from Proto-Germanic *brūnijaną (“to decorate; tan”), from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz (“brown”, adjective), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”, adjective). Doublet of brown and brunneous.

The noun is derived from the verb.[3]

Verb

burnish (third-person singular simple present burnishes, present participle burnishing, simple past and past participle burnished)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To make (something, such as a surface) bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; to polish, to shine.
      Synonyms: buff, furbish; see also Thesaurus:rub
      In pottery, a stone is sometimes used to burnish a pot before firing, giving it a smooth, shiny look.
      • 1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, OCLC 1000393158, lines 1205–1208, page 383:
        Lyke as the larke, vpon the somers day, / Whan Titan radiant burnisshith his bemis bryght, […]
      • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, OCLC 932900760, stanza 29, page 289:
        So forth he came all in a cote of plate, / Burniſht vvith bloudie ruſt; […]
        Regarded by the Oxford English Dictionary as a nonce use.
      • 1663, Edward Sparke, “Poem 15. On Whitsunday.”, in ΘΥΣΙΑΣΤΗΡΙΟΝ [Thusiastērion] vel Scintilla-Altaris. Or Primitive Devotion in the Feasts and Fasts of the Church of England. […], 3rd edition, London: […] R. Wood, for H. Brome, […], OCLC 20187574, page 327:
        Fire Renovates and Burniſheth the Mine, / The Spirit of VVisdom, makes the Face to ſhine: / Fire elevates, inclines things to Aſcend, / The Spirit of Faith too makes Souls upvvard tend: […]
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 246–251:
        Thus was this place, / A happy rural ſeat of various view; / Groves whoſe rich Trees wept Odorous Gummes and Balme, / Others whoſe fruit burniſht with Golden Rinde / Hung amiable, Heſperian Fables true, / If true, here onely, and of delicious taſte: […]
      • 1766, John Cunningham, “Day, a Pastoral. Evening.”, in Poems, Chiefly Pastoral, Dublin: […] Peter Wilson, […], and Boulter Grierson, […], OCLC 1325822780, stanza XIX, page 10:
        Novv the village vvindovvs blaze, / Burniſh'd by the ſetting ſun.
      • 1910, Edmond Rostand, Gertrude Hall, transl., Chantecler: Play in Four Acts, New York, N.Y.: Duffield and Company, OCLC 4948861, Act I, scene ii, page 24:
        Thou [the sun] smilest on the sunflower craning after thee, / And burnishest my brother of the vane, […]
    2. Of a stag: to remove the velvet (“skin and fine fur”) from (its antlers) by rubbing them against something; to velvet.
      • 1575, Jacques du Fouilloux, “Of the Termes of Venery”, in George Gascoigne, transl., The Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting. […], London: […] Thomas Purfoot, published 1611, OCLC 948181259, page 244:
        His [a hart's] head when it commeth firſt out, hath a ruſſet pyll vpon it, the which is called Veluet, […]. When his head is growne out to the full bigneſſe, then he rubbeth of that pyll, and that is called fraying of his head. And afterwards he Burniſheth the ſame, and then his head is ſaid to be full ſommed.
      • 1658, Hendrick Hexham, “The Termes and Words of the Art of Hunting, and the Interpretation of Them out of English into Netherdutch”, in Het Groot Woorden Boeck: Gestelt in ’t Neder-duytsch, ende in ’t Engelsch […] = A Large Netherdutch and English Dictionarie; […], Rotterdam: […] Arnout Leers, OCLC 4334734577, column 2:
        The Stagg or Buck burnisheth his head, by rubbing it againſt the trees, Het Hart wrijſt ſijn hooſt tegen de boomen.
      • 1728, E[phraim] Chambers, “BURNISHING”, in Cyclopædia: Or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences; […] In Two Volumes, volume I (A–H), London: […] James and John Knapton [et al.], OCLC 951657352, page 135, column 2:
        Deer are ſaid to burniſh their Heads, vvhen rubbing off a vvhite dovvny Skin from their Horns againſt a Tree, they thruſt 'em into a reddiſh Earth, to give 'em a nevv Colour and Luſtre.
    3. (figuratively) To make (someone or something) appear positive and highly respected.
      • 1606, Thomas Dekker, “The Seuen Deadly Sinnes of London: Drawne in Seuen Severall Coaches, through the Seuen Seueral Gates of the Citie Bringing the Plague with Them: 2. Lying. Or, The Second Dayes Triumph”, in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Non-dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker. […] (The Huth Library), volume II, London; Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: […] [Hazell, Watson, & Viney] for private circulation only, published 1885, OCLC 4797086, page 34:
        If a Lye, after it is molded, be not ſmooth enough, there is no inſtrumẽt to burniſh it, but an oath; Svvearing giues it cullor, & a bright complexion.
      • 1719, [Thomas] d’Urfey, “The New Windsor Ballad”, in Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy; […], volume II, London: […] W. Pearson, for J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1719 (2nd printing; republished 19th century), OCLC 227526743, page 104:
        [I]f he is not burnishing thinks he all's Time does lose, / For Sir Jan, Sir Jan, &c. [i.e., no dinner gave a Muse.]
        A reflexive use.
      • 1726, [Edward Young], The Universal Passion. Satire the Last. To the Right Honourable Sir Robert Walpole., 1st edition, London: […] J[ames] Roberts […], OCLC 24348179, page 8:
        Purſuit of fame vvith pedants fills our ſchools, / And into Coxcombs burniſhes our Fools; […]
      • 1870, The Superior Animal; a Satire, London: J. Haddon & Co., […], OCLC 429032651, page 15:
        He burnisheth stale villanies afresh. / Whilst, ravenous as sharks for human flesh, / His gaping audience bold the tumid food, / More grateful the more foully 'tis imbued.
      • 2006, Laura Browder, “Maid Marians and Bad Mothers: From the Gungirls of the 1920s to the Gangsters of the 1930s”, in Her Best Shot: Women and Guns in America, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 133:
        Bonnie Parker helped burnish her own image.
      • 2008, Otto Rahn, “Meran”, in Christopher Jones, transl., Lucifer’s Court: A Heretic’s Journey in Search of the Light Bringers, 1st U.S. edition, Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, →ISBN, part 2, page 108:
        In particular, those who experienced her [Elizabeth of Hungary's]three rose miracles did the most to burnish her legend.
      • 2016, Geo Takach, “War of the Wild Roses”, in A. Hansen and S. Depoe, editors, Scripting the Environment: Oil, Democracy and the Sands of Time and Space (Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication), Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature, DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-40433-2, →ISBN, page 165:
        Desperate to burnish her legacy, Louise pleads her case for higher status based on her achievements on Earth as a philanthropist, artist, and occasional royal rebel.
      • 2021 July 8, Sheera Frenkel; Cecilia Kang, “Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg’s partnership did not survive [Donald] Trump”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, ISSN 0362-4331, OCLC 971436363, archived from the original on 2022-11-29:
        One of her [Sheryl Sandberg's] primary roles had been to charm Washington on Facebook's behalf, and protect and burnish its image. Neither project was going particularly well.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To become bright, glossy, and smooth; to brighten, to gleam, to shine forth.
      • 1624 (first performance), John Fletcher, Rule a Wife and Have a Wife. A Comoedy. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Leonard Lichfield […], published 1640, OCLC 960101958, Act I, scene i, page 2:
        Hovv you itch Michaell, hovv you burniſh! / VVill not this ſouldiers heat out of your bones yet, / Doe your eyes glovv novv?
      • 1706, [Jonathan Swift], “The Description of a Salamander. […]”, in Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1711, OCLC 4102757, pages 374–375:
        So vvhen the VVar has rais'd a Storm, / I've ſeen a Snake in human Form, / All ſtain'd in Infamy and Vice, / Leap from the Dunghill in a trice, / Burniſh and make a gaudy ſhovv, / Become a General, Peer, and Beau, / Till Peace hath made the Sky Serene, / Then ſhrink into it's Hole again.
    2. (figuratively) To appear positive and highly respected.
Conjugation
Conjugation of burnish
infinitive(to) burnish
present tensepast tense
1st-person singular burnish burnished, burnisht†
2nd-person singular burnish, burnishest† burnished, burnishedst†, burnisht†
3rd-person singular burnishes, burnisheth† burnished, burnisht†
plural burnish
subjunctive burnish burnished, burnisht†
imperative burnish —
participles burnishing burnished, burnisht†

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
  • burnished (adjective)
  • burnisher
  • burnishing (noun)
  • burnishment
  • reburnish
Translations
to make (something, such as a surface) bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing — See also translations at polish,‎ shine
of a stag: to remove the velvet from (its antlers) by rubbing them against something — see velvet
to become bright, glossy, and smooth — see brighten,‎ gleam,‎ shine

Noun

burnish (countable and uncountable, plural burnishes)

  1. (countable)
    1. A shine of something which has been polished; a lustre, a polish.
    2. A shiny layer applied to a surface or other thing.
  2. (uncountable) The making of something bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; (countable) an instance of this; a burnishing, a polishing, a shining.
    With a good burnish, the old table should fetch a higher price.
Translations
shine of something which has been polished — see luster,‎ polish
making of something bright, shiny, and smooth by, or (by extension) as if by, rubbing; an instance of this — see polishing

Etymology 2

From Middle English barnishen, barnish (“to grow big (with child), to become pregnant; to grow stout or strong”);[4][5] further etymology uncertain, possibly from barn (“child, offspring; infant; unborn child; human being, person; male person, man (especially a young man or young warrior)”).[6] (from Old English bearn (“child”), from Proto-West Germanic *barn (“child”), from Proto-Germanic *barną (“child”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”)) + -ishen (suffix forming verbs).[7]

Verb

burnish (third-person singular simple present burnishes, present participle burnishing, simple past and past participle burnished) (intransitive, obsolete except Britain, dialectal)

  1. Of a person's body: to grow large or stout; to fatten, to fill out.
    • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XI.] A Discourse Anatomicall, of the Nature of Living Creatures, Part by Part, According to Their Particular Members.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the VVorld. Commonly Called, The Natvrall Historie of C. Plinivs Secvndus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, published 1635, OCLC 1180792622, page 345:
      A man Grovveth in heigth and length untill he be one and tvventie yeares of age: then beginneth he to ſpread and burniſh in ſquareneſſe.
    • 1640, T[homas] F[uller], “Growth in Grace”, in Ioseph’s Partie-colored Coat: Containing, a Comment on Part of the 11. Chapter of the 1. Epistle of S. Paul to the Corinthians: […], London: […] Iohn Dawson, for Iohn Williams, […], OCLC 1171524891; republished as William Nichols, editor, Joseph’s Party-coloured Coat: […], London: William Tegg, 1867, OCLC 1069237610, page 101:
      We must not all run up in height, like a hop-pole, but also burnish and spread in breadth: then shall we be well proportioned and complete.
    • 1675, John Dryden, “Prologue to Circe”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, OCLC 863244003, page 310:
      A ſlender poet muſt have time to grovv, / And ſpread and burniſh as his brothers do. / […] / Then damn not, but indulge his rude eſſays, / Encourage him, and bloat him up vvith praiſe, […]
    • 1687, [John Dryden], “[The First Part]”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], OCLC 460679539, page 22:
      Sure he preſum'd of praiſe, vvho came to ſtock / Th' etherial paſtures vvith ſo fair a flock; / Burniſh'd, and bat'ning on their food, to ſhovv / The diligence of carefull herds belovv.
      Applied to animals.
  2. (by extension) Of a thing: to increase in size; to expand, to spread out, to swell.
    • 1624, Henry Wotton, The Elements of Architecture, […], London: […] Iohn Bill, OCLC 17479433, II. part, page 117:
      [Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects] is to paſſe a running examination ouer the vvhole Edifice, according to the properties of a vvell ſhapen Man. As […] vvhether the Fabrique bee of a beautifull Stature, vvhether for the breadth it appeare vvell burniſhed, […] and ſo forth.
      An adjective use.
    • [1633], George Herbert, “Jordan”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], OCLC 1048966979; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, […], 1885, OCLC 54151361, page 95:
      My thoughts began to burniſh, ſprout, and ſvvell, / Curling vvith metaphors a plain intention, / Decking the ſenſe, as if it vvere to ſell.
    • a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “London”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, OCLC 418859860, page 190:
      Some have ſuſpected the declining of the Luſtre thereof [i.e., of London], becauſe of late it vergeth ſo much VVeſtvvard, increaſing in Buildings in Convent Garden, &c. But by their Favour (to diſprove their Fear) it vvill be found to Burniſh round about, to every point of the compaſſe, vvith nevv Structures daily added thereunto.
Translations
of a person’s body: to grow large or stout — see fatten,‎ fill out
of a thing: to increase in size — see expand,‎ spread out,‎ swell

References

  1. “burnishen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. “burnish, v.1”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “burnish, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. “burnish, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “burnish, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  4. “barnishen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  5. “† burnish, v.2”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022.
  6. “bā̆rn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  7. “-ish(e(n, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Further reading

  • burnishing (metal) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • burnishing (pottery) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • burnishing (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  • Joseph Wright, editor (1898), “BARNISH, v.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume I (A–C), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, OCLC 81937840, page 171.
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