[f. TARNISH v.] The fact of tarnishing or condition of being tarnished; loss of brightness, discoloration; stain, blemish; also concr. the substance of such discoloration; the tarnished coating. Also fig.
1713. Gentl. Instr., II. ix. (ed. 5), 182. Care is taken to wash over the Foulness of the Subject with a pleasing Tarnish.
1738. Gentl. Mag., VIII. 580/2. The same Thing again is to be said of Tarnish, Discolouring, &c. from Time, the Air, &c.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., II. xiii. Effacing the old rust and tarnish on the money.
1877. Dana, Text-bk. Min., II. (1891), 190. A surface possesses the steel tarnish, when it presents the superficial blue color of tempered steel.
1878. Huxley, Physiogr., 75. There are many metals, such as gold, which never exhibit rust or tarnish.
