vernissage

[ ver-nuh-sahzh; French ver-nee-sazh ]

/ ˌvɛr nəˈsɑʒ; French vɛr niˈsaʒ /

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noun, plural ver·nis·sages

[ver-nuh-sah-zhiz; French ver-nee-sazh]. /ˌvɛr nəˈsɑ ʒɪz; French vɛr niˈsaʒ/.

Also called varnishing day. the day before the opening of an art exhibition traditionally reserved for the artist to varnish the paintings.

a reception at a gallery for an artist whose show is about to open to the public.

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Origin of vernissage

1910–15; <French: literally, a varnishing, touching up (of paintings). See varnish, -age

Words nearby vernissage

vernier compass, vernier engine, vernier rocket, vernier scale, vernis martin, vernissage, vernix caseosa, Vernoleninsk, Vernon, Verny, Vero Beach

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use vernissage in a sentence

We had not heard of his arrival until we ran across him at the Vernissage in the New Salon.
Nights|Elizabeth Robins Pennell
Ledoyen's has attained a particular celebrity as the restaurant where every one lunches on the vernissage day of the Salon.
The Gourmet's Guide to Europe|Algernon Bastard
The spring came at last, and with it vernissage at the Salon.
The Beautiful Miss Brooke|Louis Zangwill
You can't imagine how impatient I was to get back in time for vernissage.
The Beautiful Miss Brooke|Louis Zangwill

By ten o'clock the night of the "Vernissage" all his acquaintances and intimates in Paris had brought him their felicitations.
Fairfax and His Pride|Marie Van Vorst

British Dictionary definitions for vernissage

vernissage

/ (ˌvɜːnɪˈsɑːʒ) /

noun

a preview or the opening or first day of an exhibition of paintings

another term for varnishing day

Word Origin for vernissage

French, from vernis varnish

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