Polish
verbTo rub a surface until it becomes smooth and shiny, or to refine something to a higher standard.
How to spell polish
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce polish
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does polish mean?
- verbTo rub a surface until it becomes smooth and shiny, or to refine something to a higher standard.
- nounA substance used to give a smooth, shiny finish to a surface, such as shoes, nails, or furniture.
Polish in a sentence
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verb
She likes to polish the silverware before every dinner party.
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noun
She applied a coat of red polish to her nails before the wedding.
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verb
He spent the weekend trying to polish his presentation for the board.
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noun
The can of shoe polish had dried out at the back of the cupboard.
Where does polish come from?
Language of origin: Latin
This word arrived in English during the 1200s from the Old French verb poliss-, the extended stem of polir, which in turn came straight from the Latin polire, meaning 'to make smooth' or 'to refine'. The literal sense was the physical act of rubbing a surface until it gleamed, and that meaning still anchors the word today. From there English speakers stretched it into the figurative idea of refining behaviour, language, or skill, so a person could be described as 'polished'. The same Latin root sits behind 'polite', which originally meant 'smoothed' or 'made elegant', a useful clue that polish and politeness are quite literally related. A spelling trap worth noting is the unrelated word 'Polish', meaning 'from Poland', which looks identical but takes a capital letter and a different vowel sound.
How the word is built
- polish- (from Latin polire, to make smooth)
- naturalised English spelling
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