garnish

CEFRC1

/ˈɡɑːnɪʃ/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To decorate food with a small amount of another ingredient.

  2. 02

    noun

    A small amount of food used to decorate a dish.

Examples

  • Pomegranates are increasingly popular in cooking and baking, whether as juice, garnish, or focal ingredient.

  • Put a sprig of mint on top as a garnish.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To furnish; to supply.

  2. To ornament with something placed around it.

  3. To decorate with ornaments; to adorn; to embellish.

More examples

In context

  • What's the garnish for this drink?

  • a dish garnished with a sprig/spray of parsley

  • 1710, Joseph Addison, The Tatler, No. 163, 25 April, 1710, Glasgow: Robert Urie, 1754, p. 165, […] as that admirable writer has the best and worst verses of any among our English poets, Ned Softly has got all the bad ones without book, which he repeats upon o...

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Before serving, the chef will blank the dish with minced parsley.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English garnysshen, from Old French garniss-, stem of certain forms of the verb garnir, guarnir, warnir (“to provide, furnish, avert, defend, warn, fortify, garnish”), from a conflation of Old Frankish *warnijan (“to refuse, deny”) and *warnōn (“warn, protect, prepare, beware, guard oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *warnijaną (“to worry, care, heed”) and Proto-Germanic *warnōną (“to warn”); both from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to defend, protect, cover”). Cognate with Old English wiernan (“to withhold, be sparing of, deny, refuse, reject, decline, forbid, prevent from, avert”) and warnian (“to warn, caution, take warning, take heed, guard oneself against, deny”). More at warn.