Etymology From Middle English vernisch, vernish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin vernix, veronix, from Byzantine Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē, “Berenice”), a town in Cyrenaica, now called Benghazi.
1
A clear or translucent liquid coating composed of resin dissolved in a solvent, which dries by evaporation to form a hard, protective, and typically glossy finish.
2
Anything resembling such a coating; a glossy appearance.
the varnish of the holly and ivy1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
3
Broadly, Figuratively A deceptively showy appearance.
And set a double varnish on the fame / The Frenchman gave you.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:
Every transcontinental but two settled on the simple articulated for freight service, and all of them coupled their varnish to the 4-8-4.1959, David P. Morgan, editor, Steam's Finest Hour, Kalmbach Publishing Co.:
Etymology From Middle English vernisch, vernish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin vernix, veronix, from Byzantine Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē, “Berenice”), a town in Cyrenaica, now called Benghazi.
1
To apply varnish.
2
To cover up with varnish.
3
To make something superficially or deceptively attractive
varnish the report
4
To gloss over a defect.
[...] Go love thy infant; love thy wood-chopper: be good-natured and modest: have that grace; and never varnish your hard, uncharitable ambition with this incredible tenderness for black folk a thousand miles off. Thy love afar is spite at home.1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”, in Essays: First Series: