Word of the Day : August 14, 2019

garniture \GAHR-nih-cher\ noun

Definition

1 : embellishment, trimming

2 : a set of decorative objects (such as vases, urns, or clocks)

Did You Know?

In Middle French, garniture meant "accessory." It is an alteration of the Old French noun garneture, which is derived from the verb garnir, which meant "to equip, trim, or decorate." In fact, an Anglo-French stem of garnir, garniss-, is the source of the English verb garnish, which in its senses of "to decorate" and "to embellish" shares a similar relationship to garniture that the verb furnish shares with furniture. Furnish comes from the Anglo-French furniss-, a stem of the verb furnir or fournir, which also gave rise to the Middle French fourniture, the source of the English furniture.

Aired August 14, 2019

All Merriam-Webster content is available at www.merriam-webster.com