polish

See also: Polish

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: pŏl'ĭsh, IPA^(key): /ˈpɒl.ɪʃ/
• (US) enPR: pä'lĭsh, IPA^(key): /ˈpɑ.lɪʃ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

polish (countable and uncountable, plural polishes)

1. A substance used to polish.

   A good silver polish will remove tarnish easily.

2. Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.

   The floor was waxed to a high polish.

3. Refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation.

   The lecturer showed a lot of polish at his last talk.

Synonyms

• (substance): wax
• (smoothness, shininess): finish, sheen, shine, shininess, smoothness
• (cleanliness in performance or presentation): class, elegance, panache, refinement, style

Derived terms

• depolish
• expolish
• repolish
• apple-polish
• French polish
• furniture polish
• glacial polish
• nail polish
• polish remover
• shoe polish
• spit and polish
• stove polish
• varnish polish

Related terms

• polissoir

Translations

substance used to polish

• Armenian: լաք (hy) (lakʻ)
• Bulgarian: лак (bg) m (lak), гланц (bg) m (glanc), политура (bg) f (politura)
• Catalan: poliment m
• Czech: leštidlo n
• Danish: pudsecreme c, politur c
• Dutch: poets (nl), poetsmiddel (nl)
• Esperanto: polurilo
• Finnish: kiillote, kiillotusaine
• French: vernis (fr) m
• German: Politur (de) f
• Indonesian: poles (id)
• Italian: lucido (it) m, cera (it) f
• Japanese: 研磨剤 (kenma-zai)
• Persian: پولیش (fa) (poliš)
• Polish: pasta do polerowania f
• Portuguese: cera (pt) f, graxa (pt) f
• Romanian: pastă de lustruit f
• Scottish Gaelic: lìomh f
• Spanish: pulidor m, abrillantador (es) m, pulimento (es) m, betún (es) m (shoe polish)
• Swedish: polityr (sv), polermedel, putsmedel
• Turkish: parlatma maddesi

cleanliness; smoothness; shininess

• Bulgarian: лъскавина (bg) f (lǎskavina), блясък (bg) m (bljasǎk)
• Danish: glans c, glathed c
• Dutch: glans (nl) m
• Esperanto: poluro (eo)
• Finnish: (shininess) kiilto (fi), (smoothness) tasaisuus (fi)
• German: Glanz (de) m
• Italian: lucidità (it) f, lucentezza (it) f, brillantezza (it) f, levigatezza f
• Japanese: (cleanliness) 綺麗 (ja) (kirei), 清らか (kiyoraka), 清潔 (ja) (seiketsu), (smoothness) 平ら (ja) (taira), 平坦 (ja) (heitan), (shininess) 輝き (ja) (kagayaki), つや (ja) (tsuya), 艶 (ja) (tsuya), 光沢 (ja) (kōtaku)
• Polish: połysk (pl) m
• Portuguese: polimento (pt) m
• Swedish: polish (sv), glans (sv)

cleanliness in performance or presentation

• Danish: elegance c, forfinelse c
• Finnish: viimeistely (fi), selkeys (fi), tyyli (fi)
• German: Schliff (de) m
• Italian: raffinatezza (it) f
• Japanese: 洗練 (ja) (senren)
• Portuguese: polimento (pt) m
• Swedish: finess (sv), polityr (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} cera (de polimento)
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} جلا (fa) (jalâ)

Verb

polish (third-person singular simple present polishes, present participle polishing, simple past and past participle polished)

1. (transitive) To shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding.

   He polished up the chrome until it gleamed.

3. (transitive) To refine; remove imperfections from.

   The band has polished its performance since the last concert.

   • 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations‎^[1]:

     Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

4. (transitive) To apply shoe polish to shoes.
5. (intransitive) To become smooth, as from friction; to receive a gloss; to take a smooth and glossy surface.

   Steel polishes well.

   • a. 1626, Francis Bacon, Inquisitions touching the compounding of metals:

     The other [gold], whether it will polish so well Wherein for the latter [brass] it is probable it will

6. (transitive) To refine; to wear off the rudeness, coarseness, or rusticity of; to make elegant and polite.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Arts that polish Life.

Synonyms

• (to make smooth and shiny by rubbing): wax, shine, buff, furbish, burnish, smooth, bone
• (refine): hone, perfect, refine

Derived terms

• interpolish
• polish a turd
• polish off
• polish one's rocket
• polish the pearl
• polish up, polish up on
• polishable
• polished
• polisher
• polishing
• polishment
• polishure
• repolish
• unpolish
• you can't polish a turd

Related terms

• polite

Translations

make a surface smooth or shiny

• Arabic: لَمَّعَ (ar) (lammaʕa)
• Armenian: հղկել (hy) (hġkel), ողորկել (hy) (oġorkel)
• Bulgarian: лъскам (bg) (lǎskam), полирам (bg) (poliram)
• Catalan: polir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 擦亮 (zh) (cāliàng)

• Czech: leštit
• Danish: polere (da), blanke, pudse (make shiny), glatte (da) (make smooth)
• Dutch: polijsten (nl), poetsen (nl), oppoetsen (nl)
• Esperanto: poluri
• Finnish: kiillottaa (fi) (make shiny), hioa (fi) (make smooth), puunata (fi) (colloquial); lankata (fi) (shoes)
• French: polir (fr)
• Galician: puír (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: polieren (de)
• Greek: γυαλίζω (el) (gyalízo), λουστράρω (el) (loustráro)
• Hebrew: ליטש (litésh)
• Hungarian: kifényesít (hu), políroz (hu), fényez (hu)
• Ido: briligar (io), polisar (io)
• Interlingua: polir, (metal) furbir, (shoes) lustrar, (to smooth) lisiar
• Italian: lucidare (it), levigare (it), lustrare (it), brillantare (it), tirare a lucido
• Japanese: 磨く (ja) (migaku), (for rice) 研ぐ (ja) (togu)
• Khmer: ពួត (km) (puət), បង្ខាត់ (bɑŋkʰat), ខាត់ (km) (kʰat)
• Korean: 닦다 (ko) (dakda)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: poliō
• Maori: whakapiata, whakamahine, whakamaheni, whakamahine, whakapīrata
• Norman: poli
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: polere, pusse (no)

• Ottoman Turkish: مهره‌لمك (mührelemek)
• Persian: پولیش کردن (poliš kardan)
• Polish: polerować (pl), wygładzać (pl)
• Portuguese: polir (pt)
• Romanian: lustrui (ro)
• Russian: (reflective surface) полирова́ть (ru) (polirovátʹ), (matte surface) шлифова́ть (ru) (šlifovátʹ)
• Sanskrit: घर्षति (gharṣati)
• Scottish Gaelic: lìomh
• Spanish: pulir (es), acicalar (es)
• Swedish: polera (sv), putsa (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tocharian B: kānt-
• Turkish: parlatmak (tr), mührelemek (tr)
• Ukrainian: полірува́ти impf (poliruváty), пополірува́ти pf (popoliruváty), відполіро́вувати impf (vidpoliróvuvaty), відполірува́ти pf (vidpoliruváty), шліфува́ти impf (šlifuváty), пошліфува́ти pf (pošlifuváty), відшліфо́вувати impf (vidšlifóvuvaty), відшліфува́ти pf (vidšlifuváty)
• Vietnamese: đánh bóng (vi)

to refine; improve imperfections from

• Arabic: صَقَل (ṣaqal)
• Catalan: polir (ca)
• Danish: forfine, ^{(please verify)} pudse af
• Dutch: oppoetsen (nl)
• Finnish: hioa (fi), parannella (fi), kehittää (fi)
• Galician: puír (gl)
• German: perfektionieren (de)
• Italian: perfezionare (it), smussare (it), levigare (it)
• Japanese: 洗練する (senren-suru)
• Polish: szlifować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: polir (pt)
• Romanian: perfecționa (ro)
• Spanish: pulir (es)
• Swedish: polera (sv), putsa (sv)

to apply shoe polish

• Bulgarian: лъскам (bg) (lǎskam)
• Finnish: kiillottaa kenkiä, lankata (fi)
• Galician: lustrar (gl)
• German: wichsen (de)
• Ido: cirajizar (io)
• Italian: lustrare (it), lucidare (it)
• Navajo: náyiishį́į́h
• Norman: bliatchinner
• Romanian: lustrui (ro)
• Scottish Gaelic: lìomh

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Breton: ^{(please verify)} lufrañ (br), ^{(please verify)} levnañ
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} صیقل زدن (sayqal zadan)

Further reading

• “polish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “polish”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “polish”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Hislop, philos