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definitions

furnish

[fur-nish]
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verb (used with object)

to supply (a house, room, etc.) with necessary furniture, carpets, appliances, etc.
to provide or supply (often followed by with): The delay furnished me with the time I needed.

noun

paper pulp and any ingredients added to it prior to its introduction into a papermaking machine.

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RELATED WORDS

provide, equip, rig, afford, dispense, appoint, gear, fit, endow, purvey, outfit, accoutre, apparel, array, clothe, provision, arm, store, stock, feed

Nearby words

  1. furmint,
  2. furmity,
  3. furnace,
  4. furness,
  5. furness, horace howard,
  6. furnished,
  7. furnishing,
  8. furnishings,
  9. furnit.,
  10. furniture

Origin of furnish

1400–50; late Middle English furnisshen < Old French furniss-, long stem of furnir to accomplish, furnish < Germanic; compare Old High German frumjan to provide
SYNONYMS FOR furnish
1, 2. rig, outfit, deck out. Furnish, appoint, equip all refer to providing something necessary. Furnish emphasizes the idea of providing necessary or customary services or appliances in living quarters: to furnish board; a room meagerly furnished with a bed, desk, and a wooden chair. Appoint (now found only in well-appointed ) means to furnish completely with all requisites or accessories or in an elegant style: a well-appointed house. Equip means to supply with necessary materials or apparatus for some service, action, or undertaking; it emphasizes preparation: to equip a vessel, a soldier.
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR furnish ON THESAURUS.COM
Related forms
Can be confusedrefinish refurbish refurnish
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for furnish

British Dictionary definitions for furnish

furnish

verb (tr)

to provide (a house, room, etc) with furniture, carpets, etc
to equip with what is necessary; fit out
to give; supplythe records furnished the information required
Derived Formsfurnisher, noun

Word Origin for furnish

C15: from Old French fournir, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German frummen to carry out
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for furnish

furnish

v.

mid-15c., from Middle French furniss-, present participle stem of furnir "furnish, accomplish," from Old French fornir (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *fornire, alteration of *fromire, from West Germanic *frumjan "forward movement, advancement" (cf. Old High German frumjan "to do, execute, provide"), from Proto-Germanic *fram- "forwards" (see from). Meaning "to provide" (something) is from 1520s. Related: Furnished; furnishing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper