smooth

Pronunciation

• IPA: /smuːð/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English smothe, inherited from Old English smōþ, a variant of the usual Old English smēþe “free from roughness, not harsh”,^[2][3][4] of unknown origin.^[2][3][5] Barnhart compares Old Saxon smōthi.^[5][4] The verb is Middle English smothen, from the adjective; it replaced the older verb smeeth, from Old English smēþan.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Free from roughness: before 1050 in Barnhart, and level or flat about 1330 in Sir Orfeo.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The usual early Middle English form was smeeth, which after about 1400 was archaic or dialectal; it survives in place names such as Smithfield.^[2] Of words or manners, pleasant or polite, it is from the late 14th century,^[2][5] and later bland and flattering, from the 15th century.^[3] The slang sense “superior, clever” is from 1893 and “stylish” from 1922.^[2] Smooth-tongued is from 1592, in Marlowe's Edward II.^[5] The verb, to make smooth, is from about 1200 in Etymonline and 1340 in Barnhart,^[2][5] and of a graph, to remove irregularities, from 1889.^[2] Smoothie, a smooth-talking man, is American from 1929.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1050 – free from roughness.^[5]
• c. 1200 – the verb.^[2]
• late 14th century – pleasant, polite.^[2]
• 1592 – smooth-tongued.^[5]
• 1893 – superior, clever (slang).^[2]
• 1929 – smoothie.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having an even surface, without lumps, holes or roughness.
2. Even in texture or consistency, without lumps: a smooth sauce.
3. Moving evenly, without jolts: a smooth flight.
4. Free from problems or difficulties.
5. Polite and charming, often in a way that seems insincere.

Verb

1. To make something smooth, flat or even.
2. To remove problems from something: smooth the way.
3. To make a quarrel or bad feeling less serious; to calm.

Word family

• smoother
• smoothly
• smoothness
• smoothable
• oversmooth
• presmooth
• resmooth
• smoothbore

Related words

• smoothie

References

1. ^ 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology