Refurbished

How to spell refurbished

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce refurbished

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does refurbished mean?

1. adjectiveRestored to good condition, especially of a product cleaned, repaired, and resold.
2. verbRenovated or restored something to a clean, working, or attractive state.

Refurbished in a sentence

• adjective

  The refurbished laptop came with a one-year warranty and looked brand new.

• verb

  The contractor refurbished the entire office over the summer break.

• adjective

  She bought a refurbished phone to save money without losing quality.

• verb

  Volunteers refurbished the old community hall before the reopening.

Where does refurbished come from?

Language of origin: French

The heart of this word is the verb 'furbish', which English borrowed in the 1300s from the Old French 'forbir' or 'fourbir', meaning 'to polish, clean, or burnish'. That French verb traces back to a Germanic root meaning to make bright or to rub up, and in early use 'furbish' often described scouring rust off armour and weapons until they gleamed. The Latin prefix 're-', meaning 'again', was attached to give 'refurbish', literally 'to polish up again', a form that became common in English by the 1600s. Over time the sense broadened from cleaning metal to renovating and restoring almost anything, from buildings to electronics. The spelling trap lies in the silent middle: writers often want to double a letter or drop the 'r', but it is simply re + furbish + ed, with a single 'r' in 'furbish' and the unusual 'b' before 'ish'.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• furbish (to polish, clean up)
• -ed (past tense / participle suffix)