tarnish.
Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.
Meaning & usage
Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English ternysshen, from Old French terniss-, stem of ternir (“to make dim, make wan”), borrowed from Old High German *ternen, tarnen, from Proto-West Germanic *darnijan (“to conceal”). Doublet of dern and darn.
To oxidize or discolor due to oxidation.
Careful storage of silver will prevent it from tarnishing.
To compromise, damage, soil, or sully.
He is afraid that she will tarnish his reputation if he disagrees with her.
To lose its lustre or attraction; to become dull.
To use a sign, image, expression, etc. sufficiently close to a trademarked one that it brings disrepute to it.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English ternysshen, from Old French terniss-, stem of ternir (“to make dim, make wan”), borrowed from Old High German *ternen, tarnen, from Proto-West Germanic *darnijan (“to conceal”). Doublet of dern and darn.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.