different between flaw vs tarnish

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flag? (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl?k- (“broad, flat”). Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English fl?h (“a frament, piece”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?fl??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?fl?/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /?fl?/
• Rhymes: -??
• Homophone: floor (in non-rhotic accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Noun

flaw (plural flaws)

1. (obsolete) A flake, fragment, or shiver.
2. (obsolete) A thin cake, as of ice.
3. A crack or breach, a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion.
4. A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.

   • Has not this also its flaws and its dark side?

   1. (in particular) An inclusion, stain, or other defect of a diamond or other gemstone.
   2. (law) A defect or error in a contract or other document which may make the document invalid or ineffective.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:defect

Derived terms

• flawful
• flawless
• flawsome
• tragic flaw

Translations

Verb

flaw (third-person singular simple present flaws, present participle flawing, simple past and past participle flawed)

1. (transitive) To add a flaw to, to make imperfect or defective.
2. (intransitive) To become imperfect or defective; to crack or break.

Translations

Etymology 2

Probably Middle Dutch vl?ghe or Middle Low German vl?ge. Or, of North Germanic origin, from Swedish flaga (“gust of wind”), from Old Norse flaga; all from Proto-Germanic *flag?n-. See modern Dutch vlaag (“gust of wind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fl??/
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

flaw (plural flaws)

1. A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration; windflaw.
   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, The Marriage of Geraint

     Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn.

2. A storm of short duration.
3. A sudden burst of noise and disorder

   Synonyms: tumult, uproar, quarrel

Translations

References

Anagrams

• AFLW, WAFL

Sranan Tongo

Verb

flaw

1. To faint.

English

Etymology

From Middle English ternysshen, a borrowing from Old French terniss-, stem of ternir (“to make dim, make wan”), borrowed from Frankish *darnijan (“to conceal”). Doublet of dern and darn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t??n??/

Noun

tarnish (usually uncountable, plural tarnishes)

1. Oxidation or discoloration, especially of a decorative metal exposed to air.
   • 1918, Hannah Teresa Rowley, Mrs. Helen Louise (Wales) Farrell, Principles of Chemistry Applied to the Household

     Precipitated calcium carbonate, a very fine powdery form, is used as a basis for many tooth powders and pastes. As whiting it finds a wide use in cleaning metals of their tarnishes.

Translations

Verb

tarnish (third-person singular simple present tarnishes, present participle tarnishing, simple past and past participle tarnished)

1. (intransitive) To oxidize or discolor due to oxidation.

2. (transitive) To compromise, damage, soil, or sully.

3. (intransitive, figuratively) To lose its lustre or attraction; to become dull.

Translations

Anagrams

• Hartins, rantish