Pronounced: PINCH-bek, adj/noun
Notes: While I don’t know this word, it makes me think of The Music Man
Yesterday’s word
The word garniture means
- embellishment; trimming
- a set of decorative objects (as vases, urns, clocks, etc)
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
Background / Comments
After I read the definitions (especially the second one), I thought that garniture may be to garnish as furniture is to furnish; that is, we “furnish” a house with “furniture” – we “garnish” (that is, embellish) a house with “garniture”: that view is mostly correct. Our word comes from Middle French word garniture (equipment), which comes from the Old French noun garnesture, which comes from the verb garnir (to warn, equip, or garnish).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 