Veneer Meaning
/vəˈnɪə(ɹ)/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA thin decorative covering of fine material (usually wood) applied to coarser wood or other material.
nounAn attractive appearance that covers or disguises one's true nature or feelings, the veneer of culture.
Sentence Examples
The veneer we call civilisation is only skin deep.
Augustus kept only the veneer of the Republic while effectively making himself into a king.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old cabinet has a thin ____ of walnut over cheap pine wood.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old wooden table was covered with a thin ____ of mahogany, which gave it a very elegant appearance today.
Word Origin & History
From German Furnier, from furnieren (“to inlay, cover with a veneer”), from French fournir (“to furnish, accomplish”), from Middle French fornir, from Old French fornir, furnir (“to furnish”), from Old Frankish frumjan (“to provide”), from Proto-Germanic *frumjaną (“to further, promote”). Cognate with Old High German frumjan, frummen (“to accomplish, execute, provide”), Old English fremian (“to promote, perform”). More at furnish.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Compartment and corridor partitions are of blockboard, with appropriate decorative veneers to suit the varied interior decoration."
— 1951 May, “British Railways Standard Coaches”, in Railway Magazine, pages 327-328:
"A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…]."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"“Yalda,” Dabashi says, “has managed to survive the centuries because it has been gently recodified with a Muslim veneer.”"
— 2014 December 5, “Joy From the World”, in The New York Times Magazine, retrieved 06 Dec 2014:
"The stateroom walls are veneered with finely figured English chestnut with the skirting and mouldings in English walnut."
— 1947 January and February, “South African Royal Train”, in Railway Magazine, page 36:
"[O]ne / Discuss'd his tutor, rough to common men / But honeying at the whisper of a lord; / And one the Master, as a rogue in grain / Veneer'd with sanctimonious theory."
— 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Prologue”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 6:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The old cabinet has a thin ____ of walnut over cheap pine wood.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old wooden table was covered with a thin ____ of mahogany, which gave it a very elegant appearance today.