tarnation - 3 dictionary results
tar⋅na⋅tion
[tahr-ney-shuh
n] 
Older Use.–interjection
| 1. | damnation. |
–noun
| 2. | damnation; hell (used as a euphemism): Where in tarnation is that boy? |
–adverb
| 3. | damned. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To tarnation
| tar·na·tion (tär-nā'shən) n. The act of damning or the condition of being damned. interj. Used to express anger or annoyance. [tarn(al) + (damn)ation.] The noun and interjection tarnation illustrate suffixation, the addition of a suffix to a word. Tarnation and darnation (the latter probably having come first) are both euphemistic forms of damnation. Tarnation seems to have been influenced by tarnal, another mild oath derived from (e)ternal! The Oxford English Dictionary cites late-18th-century examples of tarnation from New England, indicating that it has been part of American speech since colonial days. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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tarnation
1784, Amer.Eng. alteration of darnation (itself a euphemism for damnation), influenced by tarnal (1790), from phrase by the Eternal (God).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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