vernix

English

Newborn baby with some vernix remaining on parts of the skin.

Etymology

Derived from Medieval Latin vernix (“varnish”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvɜːnɪks/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈvɝnɪks/

Noun

vernix (uncountable)

1. (obstetrics, medicine) Vernix caseosa; a fatty deposit covering the skin of newborn babies.
   • 2004, Armin A Brott, The New Father, Mitchell Beazley, published 2011, page 21:

     The cheesy stuff is called vernix, and it's a natural moisturizer that protects the baby's skin while she's in the womb.

   • 2009 November 7, Sam Leith, The Guardian:

     But when – like Troy in the end of the film – you are presented for the first time with an angry, purple, bloody, vernix-covered, shit-smeared, breathing human being, everything changes.

Latin

Alternative forms

• bernīx, veronīx

Etymology

Perhaps from Byzantine Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē), from Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯er.niːks/, [ˈu̯ɛrniːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈver.niks/, [ˈvɛrniks]

Noun

vernīx m (genitive vernīcis); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) varnish
2. (Medieval Latin) resin

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vernīx	vernīcēs
Genitive	vernīcis	vernīcum
Dative	vernīcī	vernīcibus
Accusative	vernīcem	vernīcēs
Ablative	vernīce	vernīcibus
Vocative	vernīx	vernīcēs

Derived terms

• vernīcium

Descendants

• Catalan: vernís
• Old French: vernis
  • French: vernis
  • → Middle English: vernisch
    • English: varnish
  • → Middle High German: vernīʒ, firnīs
    • German: Firnis
• Italian: vernice
• Portuguese: verniz
• Sicilian: virnici
• Spanish: barniz
• → Polish: werniks
• Venetian: vernize

References

• vernix in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• uernix in Ramminger, Johann (2015 May 22 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016