vbl. sb. [Later form of faneering, fineering (cf. FINEER v.), ad. G. furni(e)rung, fourni(e)rung: see prec. and cf. Da. finering, Sw. fanering.
The form faneering occurs in 1670 in Evelyn, Sylva, xxiv. 121, and in 1685 in Cotton, Montaigne’s Ess. (1711), III. 247. Fineering is common in the 18th cent.]
1. The process of applying thin flat plates or slips of fine wood (or other suitable material, as ivory) to cabinet-work or similar articles in order to produce a more elegant or polished surface than that of the underlying material; also, the result obtained by this process.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Veneering, a sort of in-laid Work among Joyners, Cabinet-makers &c.
1728. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Marquetry, The whole is … polish’d with the Skin of the Sea-dog, Wax, and Shave-Grass, as in simple Vaneering.
1762. Derrick, Lett. (1767), II. 66. Their polish is high; the inlaying and veneering very beautiful.
1829. Loudon, Encycl. Plants (1836), 611. The old wood furnishes the cabinet-maker with a beautiful material for veneering.
1854. Tomlinson’s Cycl. Usef. Arts (1867), II. 798/2. The operations of veneering consist in glueing the veneer to the prepared surface, and cleaning and polishing it when so fixed.
1873. E. Spon, Workshop Rec., Ser. I. 411/1. In veneering with the hammer, cut the veneer a little larger than the surface to be covered.
transf. 1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2700. A process termed veneering has been adopted with some kinds of pottery where a strong but coarse and unsightly ware is dipped … into a paste of superior color and quality.
b. fig. (Cf. VENEER v. 2 b.)
1808. Scott, Lett., in Lockhart (1837), II. vi. 208. By this sort of veneering, he converts … articles which, in their original state, might hang in the market [etc.].
1846. Ford, Gatherings fr. Spain (1906), 238. There is little originality in Spanish medicine. It is chiefly a veneering of other men’s ideas.
1867. O. W. Holmes, Guardian Angel, iv. He had been a good scholar in college, not so much by hard study as by skilful veneering.
1884. G. Moore, Mummer’s Wife (1887), 126. The … veneering of the mind with new impressions.
2. Wood or other material in the form of veneer; a facing of this.
1789. Burns, Sketch. Veneering oft outshines the solid wood.
1849. Ruskin, Sev. Lamps, ii. § 18. 46. A veneering of marble has been fastened on the rough brick wall.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 3411. The veneering being laid in cement instead of glue, will bear an immense amount of heat … before it will strip from the underwood.
transf. 1866. Carlyle, Remin. (1881), II. 275. Book press of rough deal, but covered with newspaper veneering where necessary.
b. fig. (Cf. VENEER v. 2 b.)
1865. Reader, 4 March, 253/3. Though the great mass … have but a veneering of education and accomplishment.
1874. L. Stephen, Hours in Library (1892), I. x. 372. A very thin veneering of mediævalism … covered his modern creed.
1891. C. Roberts, Adrift Amer., 235. The thin veneering of civilisation gets worn off.
3. attrib., as veneering-hammer, -plane, -press.
A faneering-saw is mentioned in 1688 by R. Holme, Armoury, 365/1.
1846. G. Dodd, Brit. Manuf., IV. 212. This veneering-plane is of small size, and the iron … is jagged with a number of notches. Ibid., 213. A piece of wood about three inches square and an inch thick has a straight strip of iron-plate fixed to one edge, and is called a veneering-hammer.
1888. Encycl. Brit., XXIV. 138/2. The surfaces … are … tightly pressed together in a veneering press.
