polish

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A substance used to polish.
2. (countable, uncountable) Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.
3. (countable, uncountable) Refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation.

Verb

1. (transitive) To shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding.
2. (transitive) To refine; remove imperfections from.
3. (transitive) To apply shoe polish to shoes.
4. (intransitive) To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface.
5. (transitive) To refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite.

Synonyms

shine

burnish

grind

gloss

rub

smooth

refine

furbish

lustre

clean

varnish

glaze

brush

finish

refinement

brighten

wipe

scrub

scrape

luster

wax

smoothen

polishing

lacquer

perfect

buff

sharpen

glossiness

file

coat

🧥

plane

make shine

sleekness

down

improve

smoothness

cultivation

glitter

buffing

brush up

round

scour

comity

cleanse

brilliance

brightness

elaborate

nicety

lustrousness

niceness

Translations

polir

polieren

lucidare

🇵🇱

pulir

🇵🇱

polir

🇵🇱

poetsen

cirer

Politur

🇵🇱

γυαλίζω

lucido

polimento

🇵🇱

لمع

oppoetsen

🇵🇱

lustrer

🇵🇱

wichsen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpɒl.ɪʃ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: polishen

In summary

From Middle English polishen, from Old French poliss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of polir, from Latin polīre (“to polish, make smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to drive, strike, thrust”), from the notion of fulling cloth.