polish

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈpɒl.ɪʃ/, US /ˈpɑː.lɪʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English polisen, polishen, borrowed from Old French poliss-, the lengthened stem of polir (“to polish, decorate”),^[2][3][4] from Latin polīre (“to polish, make smooth; to refine”),^[2][4][5] of uncertain origin;^[2][4] Watkins, quoted by Etymonline, derives it from PIE Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to thrust, strike, drive”), through the fulling of cloth, and MWU relates it to pellere (“to drive, beat”).^[4][5] The ending is the -ish of verbs from French.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make smooth and shiny: before 1325 in Cursor Mundi in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, to free from coarseness or refine, is from about 1340, in an early psalter;^[2][4] compare polite, from the same Latin verb.^[4][6] The noun was at first figurative too, refinement or elegance of manner, from 1597;^[2][7][4] smoothness of surface is from 1704 and the act of polishing from 1704–05, in Newton's Opticks,^[2][4][7] and a substance used for polishing from 1819.^[2][4][7] Nail polish is called simply polish from 1917.^[7] To polish off, to finish quickly, is a later informal use.^[8][9] In Yorkshire dialect, to polish was to eat up entirely.^[10]

Timeline

• before 1325 – to make smooth and shiny.^[2]
• c. 1340 – to refine, figuratively.^[2][4]
• 1597 – the noun, refinement.^[2][7]
• 1704 – smoothness, the act of polishing.^[2][7]
• 1819 – a polishing substance.^[2][4]
• 1917 – nail polish.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make smooth and shiny by rubbing, often with a wax or abrasive.
2. To improve or perfect; to refine.
3. (polish off) To finish quickly, as a meal or task.
4. To remove the outer layers from grains of rice.

Noun

1. A substance used to give a smooth, shiny surface: shoe polish, nail polish.
2. Smoothness and shine of surface.
3. Refinement or elegance of style or manner.

Word family

• polisher
• electropolish
• apple-polish
• depolish
• repolish
• overpolish
• polished

Related words

• polite
• Polish
• interpolate

Usage notes

Polish with a capital P, of Poland, is a different word, from Pole and -ish (1670s in Etymonline, 1574 in MWU), pronounced UK /ˈpəʊ.lɪʃ/, US /ˈpoʊ.lɪʃ/.^[4][5][1]

References

1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)