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# The BFD Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-bfd-word-of-the-day-616/
- Published: 2021-10-06T17:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-08-12T19:04:26.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 01:31

The word for today is…

garnish (verb, noun):

*verb*  
1a : decorate, embellish  
b : to add decorative or savory touches to (food or drink)  
2 : to equip with accessories

*noun*  
1 : embellishment, ornament  
2 : something (such as lemon wedges or parsley) used to decorate or flavor food or drink  
3a : an unauthorized fee formerly extorted from a new inmate of an English jail  
b : a similar payment required of a new worker

Source : [Merriam -Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garnish?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : Although we now mostly garnish food, the general application of the “decorate” meaning is older. The link between embellishing an object or space and adding a little parsley to a plate isn’t too hard to see, but how does the sense relating to debtors’ wages fit in? The answer lies in the word’s Anglo-French root, garnir, which means “to warn or to equip.” Before wages were garnished, the debtor would be served with a legal summons or warning. The legal sense of “garnish” now focuses on the taking of the wages, but it is rooted in the action of furnishing the warning.

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