Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To dull the luster of; discolor, especially by exposure to air or dirt.
  • intransitive verb To detract from or spoil.
  • intransitive verb To bring disgrace to; sully.
  • intransitive verb To lose luster; become discolored.
  • intransitive verb To become less enjoyable or estimable.
  • noun The condition of being tarnished.
  • noun A film or layer of discoloration on a metal surface caused by corrosion or oxidation.
  • noun The condition of being disgraced or made less estimable.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To diminish or destroy the luster of; sully; dull: used of an alteration induced by the air, or by dust or dampness; also, in mineralogy, to change the natural color or luster of the surface of: said chiefly of the metallic minerals. See tarnish, n., 2.
  • To give a pale or dim cast to, as to gold or silver, without either polishing or burnishing it.
  • Figuratively, to diminish or destroy the purity of; cast a stain upon; sully: as, to tarnish reputation.
  • Synonyms To dull, deface.
  • To lose luster; become dim or dull: as, polished substances or gilding will tarnish in the course of time.
  • noun A spot; a blot; the condition of being dulled or stained.
  • noun In mineralogy, the change in luster or color of the surface of a mineral, particularly one of metallic luster: usually due to slight alteration, but also in some cases to the deposition of a very thin film of some foreign substance.
  • noun A coating.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To lose luster; to become dull.
  • noun The quality or state of being tarnished; stain; soil; blemish.
  • noun (Min.) A thin film on the surface of a metal, usually due to a slight alteration of the original color.
  • transitive verb To soil, or change the appearance of, especially by an alternation induced by the air, or by dust, or the like; to diminish, dull, or destroy the luster of; to sully.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.
  • verb To oxidize or discolor due to oxidation.
  • verb To soil, sully, damage or compromise

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun discoloration of metal surface caused by oxidation
  • verb make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ternisshen, from Old French ternir, terniss-, to dull, from terne, dull, of Germanic origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French terniss-, stem of ternir ("to make dull, deaden, tarnish"), from Old French ternir ("to make dim, make wan"), from Frankish *tarnjan (“to cover up, conceal, hide”), from Proto-Germanic *darnijanan (“to conceal”), from Proto-Indo-European *dher(ǝ)-, *dhrē- (“to hold, hold tight, support”). Cognate with Old High German *tarnjan, tarnen ("to hide, cover up, conceal") (Modern German tarnen), Old English dyrnan, diernan ("to keep secret, conceal, hide, restrain, repress"). More at dern, darn.

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Examples

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  • First step towards vanishing.

    August 9, 2011