to make or become shiny by rubbing; polish
Origin of burnish
Middle English burnishen from Old French burniss-, extended stem of brunir, to make brown from brun: see brunet a gloss or polish
A man burnishes the lights of his car.
To burnish is to polish or shine something by rubbing.
An example of burnish is to shine a bronze statue.
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burnish
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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burnish
transitive verb
bur·nished, bur·nish·ing, bur·nish·es- To make smooth or glossy by rubbing; polish.
- To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish.
- To improve or make more impressive: achievements that burnished her reputation.
noun
A smooth glossy finish or appearance; luster.
Origin of burnish
Middle English burnishen from Old French burnir burniss- variant of brunir from brun shining of Germanic origin ; see bher-2 in Indo-European roots.Related Forms:
- bur′nish·er
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Burnish." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Burnish.
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Burnish. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Burnish
Verb
(third-person singular simple present burnishes, present participle burnishing, simple past and past participle burnished)
Origin
From Old French burnir, from its stem burniss-, variant of brunir (“to polish, make brown”).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"Burnish." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Burnish.
APA Style
Burnish. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Burnish
Sentence Examples
- Bobr'; the root bhru has given "brown," and, through Romanic, "bronze" and "burnish."