Word of the Day

: October 14, 2012

garniture

noun GAHR-nih-cher

What It Means

1 : embellishment, trimming

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

garniture in Context

The room was authentically furnished right down to the 16th-century garniture decorating the mantel and the wardrobe.

"The studio was prolific, producing lamps and clock cases with matching garniture." - From an article by Jay Moore in the Tampa Tribune (Florida), April 3, 2011

Did You Know?

In Middle French, the language from which today's word was borrowed, "garniture" meant "equipment." "Garniture" is an alteration of the Old French noun "garnesture," which is derived from the verb "garnir," which meant "to warn, equip, or garnish." In fact, an Anglo-French stem of "garner," "garniss-," is the source of the English verb "garnish," which in its senses of "decorate" and "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."