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PlainSpell

garnish

gar·nishUK /ˈɡɑːnɪʃ/verb, noun

garnish is spelled G-A-R-N-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables (gar·nish). It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, garnish means “To decorate with ornaments; to adorn; to embellish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in garnish?

Letters7: G-A-R-N-I-S-H
Syllables2: gar·nish
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 27,462nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is garnish?

Garnish appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce garnish?

  • UK /ˈɡɑːnɪʃ/
  • UK [ˈɡɑːnɪʃ]
  • Australia /ˈɡäːnɪʃ/

Garnish has 2 syllables, split gar·nish in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-garnish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with garnish?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as garnish (/ɑnɪʃ/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: sharing.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of garnish

  • garnishes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • garnishing participle, present
  • garnished participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does garnish mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To decorate with ornaments; to adorn; to embellish.

  2. 2

    To ornament with something placed around it.

    a dish garnished with a sprig/spray of parsley

  3. 3

    archaicTo furnish; to supply.

  4. 4

    archaicslangTo fit with fetters; to fetter.

  5. 5

    To warn by garnishment; to give notice to.

  6. 6

    To have (money) set aside by court order (particularly for the payment of alleged debts); to garnishee.

noun

  1. 1

    A set of dishes, often pewter, containing a dozen pieces of several types.

  2. 2

    Pewter vessels in general.

  3. 3

    Something added for embellishment.

  4. 4

    Clothes; garments, especially when showy or decorative.

  5. 5

    Something set round or upon a dish as an embellishment.

  6. 6

    obsoleteslangFetters.

  7. 7

    slangA fee; specifically, in English jails, formerly an unauthorized fee demanded from a newcomer by the older prisoners.

  8. 8

    USslangCash.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Garnish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanverzieren (to decorate with ornamental appendages), garnieren (to ornament (food))
Portugueseguarnecer (to decorate with ornamental appendages), ornar, ornamentar (to ornament (food)), suprir (to furnish; to supply), guarnição (something added for embellishment)
Spanishguarnecer (to decorate with ornamental appendages), guarnición (something added for embellishment)
Frenchgarniture (something added for embellishment)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does garnish come from?

From Middle English garnysshen, from Old French garniss-, stem of certain forms of the verb garnir, guarnir, warnir (“to provide, furnish, avert, defend, warn, fortify, garnish”), from a conflation of Old Frankish *warnijan (“to refuse, deny”) and *warnōn (“warn, protect, prepare, beware, guard oneself”), from Proto-Germanic *warnijaną (“to worry, care, heed”) and Proto-Germanic *warnōną (“to warn”); both from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to defend, protect, cover”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after garnish