Wiktionary

vernix

English

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

Etymology

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Derived from Medieval Latin vernix (“varnish”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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vernīx m (genitive vernīcis); third declension

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

Declension

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Third-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative vernīx vernīcēs
genitive vernīcis vernīcum
dative vernīcī vernīcibus
accusative vernīcem vernīcēs
ablative vernīce vernīcibus
vocative vernīx vernīcēs

Derived terms

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Descendants

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References

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  • 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
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