veneer

Definition

A thin decorative covering of fine material (usually wood) applied to coarser wood or other material.

Etymology

From German Furnier, from furnieren (“to inlay, cover with a veneer”), from French fournir (“to furnish, accomplish”), from Middle French fornir, from Old French fornir, furnir (“to furnish”), from Old Frankish frumjan (“to provide”), from Proto-Germanic *frumjaną (“to further, promote”). Cognate with Old High German frumjan, frummen (“to accomplish, execute, provide”), Old English fremian (“to promote, perform”). More at furnish.

Example Sentences

• "Compartment and corridor partitions are of blockboard, with appropriate decorative veneers to suit the varied interior decoration."
• "A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…]."
• "“Yalda,” Dabashi says, “has managed to survive the centuries because it has been gently recodified with a Muslim veneer.”"