veneer

[eberntson]

Veneer, the long way round; so it's all about furniture for me in the winter, and I was thinking of the history of the word "furniture" which turns out to be old french and comes from "furnish". This is where it gets a little more exciting because the root diverges some to old French and German (furnir). Furnish lead to "veneer" which is truley a facinating word because is used to be fineering, faneering < G Fourni(e)rung, Furni(e)rung. And it can be used to make reference to furniture and the face of someone.

I know you guy love this stuff. And it a nice convoluted path with "f" changing to "v". The word having lots of history in English, French, & German.

fur·ni·ture [ fúrnich?r ] -------------
noun
Definition:
1. tables and chairs: the movable items in a room or patio, e.g. chairs, desks, or cabinets,
2. printing type separators: in traditional hot-metal printing, strips of wood, metal, or plastic that are placed between type in order to make spaces and hold the type in place
3. equipment: the equipment or accessories used for an activity, e.g. a ship's tackle or a horse's saddle and harnesses ( archaic )
[Early 16th century. < Old French fourniture< furnir (see furnish)]

fur·nish [ fúrnish ] (past and past participle fur·nished, present participle fur·nish·ing, 3rd person present singular fur·nish·es)
transitive verb
Definition:
1. put furniture in place: to provide and install furniture and other fittings such as carpets and curtains in a place
The lobby is furnished in an Art Deco style.
2. supply: to supply something, or provide somebody with something ( formal )
Could you furnish us with the names and addresses of your clients?
[15th century. < Old French furniss-, stem of furnir< Germanic]

ve·neer /v?'n??r/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[vuh-neer] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
* noun 1. a thin layer of wood or other material for facing or inlaying wood.
2. any of the thin layers of wood glued together to form plywood.
3. Building Trades. a facing of a certain material applied to a different one or to a type of construction not ordinarily associated with it, as a facing of brick applied to a frame house.
4. a superficially valuable or pleasing appearance: a cruel person with a veneer of kindliness.
* verb (used with object) 5. to overlay or face (wood) with thin sheets of some material, as a fine wood, ivory, or tortoise shell.
6. to face or cover (an object) with any material that is more desirable as a surface material than the basic material of the object; revet.
7. to cement (layers of wood veneer) to form plywood.
8. to give a superficially valuable or pleasing appearance to.
[Origin: 1695-1705; earlier fineering, faneering < G Fourni(e)rung, Furni(e)rung, equiv. to furni(e)ren to furnish (< F fournir) + -ung -ing1]

[skinem]

Fantastic post! And you're right...at least I love this stuff!

Unfortunately, to me at least, veneer generally has a negative connotation, per the last definition. Usually with today's "craftmanship", it is hiding poor material or workmanship.