Question

garnish verb Although we now mostly garnish food, the general application of the "decorate" sense is older. The link between embellishing an object or space and adding a little parsley to a plate is not too hard to see, but how does the sense relating to debtors' wages fit in? The answer lies in the word's Anglo-French root, garnir, which has various meanings including "to give notice or legal summons" and "to decorate." Before wages were garnished, the debtor would be served with a legal summons or warning. The legal sense of garnish now focuses on the taking of the wages, but it is rooted in the action of furnishing the warning. 1 a : decorate, embellishb : to add decorative or savory touches to (food or drink)2 : to equip with accessories : furnish3 : to take (something, such as a debtor's wages) by legal authority : garnishee

Accepted Answer

August 10, 2021 GAHR-nish The mashed potatoes were garnished with chives."At times, the [Illinois Department of Employment Security] anti-fraud system assumed the employees themselves were the thieves and began asking the state comptroller to garnish their wages, officials acknowledged." — Joe Mahr, The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois), 30 June 2021

Word	garnish
Date	August 10, 2021
Type	verb
Syllables	GAHR-nish
Etymology	Although we now mostly garnish food, the general application of the "decorate" sense is older. The link between embellishing an object or space and adding a little parsley to a plate is not too hard to see, but how does the sense relating to debtors' wages fit in? The answer lies in the word's Anglo-French root, garnir, which has various meanings including "to give notice or legal summons" and "to decorate." Before wages were garnished, the debtor would be served with a legal summons or warning. The legal sense of garnish now focuses on the taking of the wages, but it is rooted in the action of furnishing the warning.
Examples	The mashed potatoes were garnished with chives. "At times, the [Illinois Department of Employment Security] anti-fraud system assumed the employees themselves were the thieves and began asking the state comptroller to garnish their wages, officials acknowledged." — Joe Mahr, The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois), 30 June 2021
Definition	1 a : decorate, embellish b : to add decorative or savory touches to (food or drink) 2 : to equip with accessories : furnish 3 : to take (something, such as a debtor's wages) by legal authority : garnishee

Garnish Legal Sense Wages Warning August Verb Gahr Nish