α. 1500s– Polish, 1600s Poolishe; Scottish pre-1700 1700s– Polish.
β. Scottish pre-1700 Poilles, pre-1700 Poillis, pre-1700 Polis, pre-1700 Pollis, pre-1700 Polls, pre-1700 Pols.
Polishn.1adj.
/ˈpəʊlɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈpoʊlɪʃ/ A. n.1† 2. Short for Polish draughts n. at Compounds. Obsolete. rare.
1. The West Slavonic language of the Poles.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Balto-Slavic > Slavonic > Lechitic > Polish
Polish1555
1555 G. Killingworth Let. 27 Nov. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) ii. 301 If it please you to send any letters..to be conueyed to vs, it may please you to inclose ours in a letter sent from you to him, written in Polish, Dutch, Latine or Italian.
1691 L. Echard Compl. Compend. Geogr. i. 9 Sclavonian, divided into Russian, Polish and Turkish.
1778 N. W. Wraxall Let. 3 July in Mem. Courts (1799) II. 26 The assassins seized him by the hair, exclaiming in Polish..‘We have thee now: thy hour is come!’
1784 W. Coxe Trav. Poland, Russia, Sweden, & Denmark I. ii. iii. 176 The king informed me, that they had no good history of their country in Polish.
1807 G. Burnett Present State of Poland xvi. 277 Within thirty or forty, or perhaps fifty miles of Dantzic, I found that the people knew scarcely a word of Polish.
1861 F. M. Müller Lect. Sci. Lang. v. 187 The oldest specimen of Polish belongs to the fourteenth century: the Psalter of Margarite.
1925 P. de Soissons Polish Self-taught 1 This work is issued as a practical introduction to Polish, a language spoken by about thirty millions of people.
1968 B. Newman New Poland ii. 31 If a Lithuanian youth wanted an education, he had to learn Polish to get it.
2001 Church Times 24 Aug. 24/1 The choir addresses the saint piano in Polish, then fortissimo in Latin.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > games similar to draughts > [noun] > Polish draughts
Polish draughts1733
Polish1768
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xv. 237 Can you play Draughts, or Polish, or Chess?
3. The Poland fowl; a bird or birds of this breed; = Poland n.1 5.With unmarked plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of > Poland fowl
Poland1750
Polander1815
Poland fowl1815
Poland breed1840
Polish fowl1850
Polish1855
Pole1885
1855 Househ. Words 26 May 400/2 A pair of silver-spangled white Polish—white fowls caught in a shower of ink-drops.
1935 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 225 207 Silky fowls..have undergone a modification even more striking than..the prominent domed skull produced in the Polish.
2003 J. Batty Old & Rare Breeds Poultry (ed. 3) 78 Probably on account of their long ancestry, Polish breed much truer than the novice might imagine.
B. adj.
1. Of or relating to Poland, its language, or its inhabitants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > native or inhabitant of Poland > [adjective]
Polonish1565
Polish1574
Polonian1576
Polack1603
polony1610
Polonial1922
Polonic-
1574 Sir P. Sidney Let. 27 Nov. in Wks. (1968) III. 98 Beinge newlie returned frome my poli[sh] journei.
1603 Let. 18 Dec. in Official Papers Sir N. Bacon (1915) 159 Ther be many Embassadors..at the court..the Venetian & Florentyne Embassadors..& the Poolishe Embassador.
1612 Bk. Customs & Valuation in A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 325 Polish rugs the peice [£4, 16 s.].
1677 R. South Let. to Pococke 16 Dec. in Posthumous Wks. (1717) 26 The Queen is now about 33 Years of Age..and speaks the Polish Language full as well as her own natural Tongue.
a1704 T. Brown Lett. to Gentlemen & Ladies in 3rd Vol. Wks. (1708) ii. 97 The unkinging of his Polish Majesty.
1795 S. Jones Hist. Poland i. xix. 24 The Pater-noster in the Polish language is of the following tenor.
1831 J. Sinclair Corr. II. 292 There is hardly any resemblance between the Polish Diet and the English Parliament, at least at present.
1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 115/1 The Polish language is considered to be more flexible and euphonic than the other Slavonic dialects.
1884 W. R. Morfill Simplified Gram. Polish Lang. i. 3 The sounds of the Polish language may be grouped as hard and soft.
1944 S. Grabski Poland iii. xiv. 107 The magnificent song of the Knights..to the glory of the Virgin Mary, the first literary monument in the Polish language.
1975 Language 101 407 These languages..differ from the Polish dialects discussed above in not permitting alternatives with singular and plural.
1989 T. Kidder Among Schoolchildren iii. i. 64 You don't look Polish. You must be Irish.
2. Logic and Computing. Designating or relating to any of various logical theories, methods, systems, or schools of mathematical philosophy developed chiefly in the (historically) Polish cities of Lwow, Breslau, and Warsaw before the Second World War (1939–45); spec. using or written in Polish notation. Cf. reverse Polish n. and adj. at reverse adj. and adv. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1930 Amer. Math. Monthly 37 504 The Polish school..is primarily interested in problems of analysis situs admitting resolution by the methods of the theory of aggregates.
1937 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 2 92 The author shows in detail how formalistic logic, which he attributes without specific reference to ‘the school of Russell, and the Polish school’, makes it possible to reduce the categorical syllogism to two basic forms.
1940 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 5 77 The second section is devoted to various present currents of thought: Hilbert formalism, German exact thought.., Polish logic.., the unity of science movement.
1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xxiii. 85 One possible Polish string would be AB + C + E =. In this string, the system would find A and B and, as determined by the plus sign following the two operands, add them. The result is then combined with C under addition called for by the second plus sign. The E = symbols indicate that the result is to be stored in E.
1997 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 62 685 My absence [sc. from a bibliography] was shared by..others of the Polish school who have been studying closure spaces and logic for years.
Compounds
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > disorders of hair > [noun] > other hair disorders
plaited hair1582
plicaa1631
plica polonica1652
trichosis1693
xerasia1706
trichoma1799
hystriciasis1809
porcupine hair1822
trichoschisis1842
Polish disease1850
Polish plait1875
piedra1878
trichoclasia1895
1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 60 The plica polonica, or Polish disease, in which the hair in the human subject grows into an immense matted mass.
Polish draughts n. [called in French le jeu de dames à la polonaise (Manoury, 1750), in Poland warcaby francuskie, literally ‘French draughts’] a form of draughts played on a board of 100 squares, in which each player starts with twenty pieces.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > games similar to draughts > [noun] > Polish draughts
Polish draughts1733
Polish1768
1733 Craftsman No. 376. 156 The game of Polish Draughts, where you will see the whole Board engaged in the important business of making Kings.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 308 They play at what we call Polish drafts.
1960 R. C. Bell Board & Table Games ii. 75 Modifications in the rules have been made and as now played, Polish draughts must rank as one of the great board games of the world.
1999 Times (Nexis) 24 July International draughts, sometimes called French, Dutch or Polish draughts, dates from about 1725. It has been rising in popularity in recent years.
Polish fowl n. = Poland n.1 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of > Poland fowl
Poland1750
Polander1815
Poland fowl1815
Poland breed1840
Polish fowl1850
Polish1855
Pole1885
1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 12 Cirrus is the Latin word..adopted by Aldrovandi to express the topknot of Polish fowls.
1904 Science 25 Nov. 699/1 We might put on it the crest of the Polish fowl or the twisted feathers of the frizzle.
1975 Country Life 9 Oct. 922/4 I am the..breeder of a flock of rare chickens, the white-crested black Polish fowl.
1990 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 15 Aug. (caption) Kevin Clarke..gets a firm grip on this white crested Polish fowl at the Brisbane Exhibition yesterday.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > [noun] > family Sciuridae (squirrel) > genus Marmota > marmota bobak (bobac)
bobac1697
Polish marmot1780
tarbagan1928
1780 W. Smellie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Gen. & Particular IV. 346 The Alpine marmot and the bobak or Polish marmot have five toes.
1862 Mus. Nat. Hist. 32 132 The Polish marmot..is an inhabitant of the smaller hills of eastern Europe.
Polish notation n. [invented by the Polish logician Jan Łukasiewicz (1878–1956)] Logic and Computing a system of formula notation that avoids punctuation and brackets by writing the operators before their arguments, now also frequently used (in reverse) to represent the order in which arithmetical operations are performed in many computers and calculators; now chiefly in reverse Polish notation (see reverse adj. and adv. Compounds 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > programming language > [noun] > notation
Polish notation1939
1939 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 4 168 Using the Polish notation, where C, E, A, K, R, N stand respectively for the operations of implication, equivalence, alternation, conjunction, reciprocity (contradiction), and negation, the author states eight axioms.
1966 Y. Bar-Hillel in Automatic Transl. of Lang. (NATO Summer School, Venice, 1962) 15 In Polish notation calculi you cannot introduce syntactic ambiguity..by omitting symbols, since there are no special scoping symbols to omit.
1995 Ann. Operations Res. 55 179 We show that a system can learn to evaluate arithmetic expressions in polish notation.
ΚΠ
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ 26 Polish oats are the best Corn to be sowen with Clover about the middle of April.
1736 Compl. Family-piece iii. 351 There are two sorts, the White or Polish Oat..and the black Oat.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 155 It is a little earlier than the old Polish oat, and meals equally well.
Polish plait n. Medicine (now historical) = plica polonica n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > disorders of hair > [noun] > other hair disorders
plaited hair1582
plicaa1631
plica polonica1652
trichosis1693
xerasia1706
trichoma1799
hystriciasis1809
porcupine hair1822
trichoschisis1842
Polish disease1850
Polish plait1875
piedra1878
trichoclasia1895
1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 812/2 He described the state of the hair when affected with Polish plait.
1998 J. B. Bamborough & M. Dodsworth in R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (new ed.) IV. 131 Plica, sometimes called plica Polonica (‘Polish plait’) because it was first found in Poland, was a disease that primarily affected the hair, which became matted, but might spread to the whole body, inducing convulsions, headache, and defects of vision.
Polish wheat n. the cereal Triticum polonicum, an allotetraploid wheat of the Polonicum group that is now little grown.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of wheat grain or plant
spelta1000
farc1420
ador?1440
flaxen wheat?1523
Peak-wheat?1523
red wheat?1523
white wheat?1523
duck-bill wheat1553
zea1562
alica1565
buck1577
amelcorn1578
horse-flower1578
tiphe1578
pollard1580
rivet1580
Saracen's corn1585
French wheat1593
Lammas-wheat1594
starch corn1597
St. Peter's corn1597
frumenty1600
secourgeon1600
polwheat1601
duck-wheat1611
kidneys of wheat1611
ograve wheat1616
soft wheat1640
cone-wheat1677
Lammas1677
Poland wheat1686
Saracen corn1687
pole rivet1707
Smyrna wheat1735
hard wheat1757
hen corn1765
velvet wheat1771
white straw1771
nonpareil1805
thick-set wheat1808
cone1826
farro1828
Polish wheat1832
velvet-ear wheat1837
sarrasin1840
mummy wheat1842
snowdrop1844
Red Fife1857
flint-wheat1859
dinkel1866
thick-set1875
spring1884
macaroni wheat1901
einkorn1904
marquis1906
durum1908
emmer1908
hedgehog wheat1909
speltoid1939
1832 E. Lankester Veg. Substances Food 34 Polish Wheat—Triticum polonicum..is now to be found here only in botanic gardens.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 301/2 There are three principal varieties... These are the hard wheats, the soft wheats, and the Polish wheats.
1989 G. M. de Rougement Field Guide Crops of Brit. & Europe 328/1 Polish Wheat T. polonicum is closely related to Durum Wheat and has similar flinty grains.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
polishn.2
/ˈpɒlɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈpɑlɪʃ/ 1. Refinement, culture; elegance of manner. Cf. polish v. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > [noun]
policya1522
neatness1555
finesse1564
politure1593
polishedness1594
polishment1594
polish1597
polishure1611
refinedness1612
refinement1704
refinery1746
sophistication1915
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > [noun] > good manners or polite behaviour > polish or refinement of manners
urbanityc1475
policya1522
gesture1580
politure1593
polishedness1594
facetiousness1644
politeness1655
politesse1683
refinement1704
refinedness1711
polish1713
tournure1748
smoothness1832
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 19 This poore pamphlett,..without fynenes of methode, or pullishe of art.
1632 H. Hawkins tr. G. P. Maffei Fuga Sæculi 377 Without the least rust of auarice, that could once take hold of the fine polish of his Charity.
1713 J. Addison Cato i What are these wond'rous civilizing arts, This Roman polish, and this smooth behaviour?
1778 F. Burney Evelina I. xxvi. 213 Where my education and manners might receive their last polish.
1841 M. Elphinstone Hist. India I. iv. ii. 425 What polish they have seems borrowed from the Mussulmans.
1856 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 694/2 The Prince..received us with much urbanity, and a polish which plainly indicated familiarity with St. Petersburg saloons.
1886 E. L. Bynner Agnes Surriage xv. 173 How fast he was losing metropolitan tone and polish in the wilds of America.
1902 F. W. H. Myers Wordsworth 105 Poetry depends on emotion and not on polish.
1970 J. Glassco Mem. Montparnasse xi. 98 I did not have the courage to show my work-in-progress to him, thinking of the superlative technique and polish of his own stories.
1984 L. Deighton Mexico Set xv. 227 Henry Tiptree had the glossy polish that the best English boarding schools can sometimes provide.
2. The action or an act of polishing, the condition of being polished; smoothness and (usually) gloss produced by friction or the application of a coating to a surface. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > reflection > [noun] > lustre or shine from reflected light
orientness1519
lustrec1522
gloss1538
brightshine1573
shine1601
sheen1604
polishing1611
polish1629
oriencya1651
glare1658
glossiness1680
nitency1768
varnish1841
burnishing1851
orience1858
shininess1872
patina1931
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [noun] > polished or glossy smoothness > action, fact, or condition of
polishing1419
polishment1594
polishure1611
polish1629
glossing1875
1629 Z. Boyd Last Battell Soule (new ed.) iii. 323 His Law requireth that his Children bee so cleane that there bee not so much as the breath of euill vpon them for to darken or mak dimme the polish of their cristall colour.
1665 R. Boyle New Exper. & Observ. Cold i. 27 As for Flints, Paving-stones, precious stones, and such as will receive a polish..I could never see any effect [of frost] on them.
1701 W. Salmon Polygraphice (ed. 8) II. xi. xiii. 891 If your Work should after a little time grow dull, cloudy and misty, it is to be remedied with a slight Polish, and clearing it up afterwards.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 352 Consider the great Difficulty of hewing it..and of giving it the due Turn, Proportion and Polish.
1777 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 67 325 In the beginning of the polish,..I worked round and round.
1803 Gazetteer Scotl. at Huntly Some of the stones..take a very high polish.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby viii. 65 You must be content with giving yourself a dry polish till we break the ice in the well.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 24 The wood is said to be much like walnut, but closer in the grain, and takes a splendid polish.
1957 H. S. Zim & P. R. Shaffer Rocks & Minerals 88 Jet, a tough form of soft coal, takes a high polish.
2004 Evening Standard (Nexis) 30 June 40 He bought a chest of drawers, scraped the paint off, gave it a polish and sold it for a profit.
3.
a. A substance used for polishing, esp. one applied to a surface to produce or help to produce a smooth (and usually glossy) coating or appearance. Cf. French polish n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > polishing > [noun] > polish
polish1819
1819 Post Office London Directory 367 Wheeler, T., Warehouse for Bentley & Co's French Polish.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §1624 The method of applying these polishes is the same for all. A flannel rubber is..dipped in the polish.
1943 Outspan (Bloemfontein) 23 July 22 (advt.) You must be using a lot of polish on the floors, John. They shine so brightly.
1958 B. White Remodelling Old Furnit. vi. 140 Fumed oak should be coated with clear polish.
1988 J. G. Ballard Running Wild 66 Mr Poole..has left his chamois leather and polish on the roof of the Mercedes.
b. Short for nail polish n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > polish for nails
nail polish1857
polish1906
nail enamel1907
nail varnish1926
nail lacquer1966
1906 Fairbanks (Alaska) Evening News 24 Sept. 2/5 A tiny brush by which the polish is applied to the nails.
1924 M. A. Burbridge Road to Beauty 115 Finish by using a bit more of the tinted polish and rub up with the buffer.
2002 S. Stacey & J. Fairley 21st Cent. Beauty Bible 157/1 Select a bright polish to draw attention to the nail.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
polish brush n.
ΚΠ
1861 Englishwoman's Domest. Mag. 3 48 No blacking-brush is needed, nor polish-brush either.
1999 Evening Standard (Nexis) 26 July 23 Shoeshine boys will have an alternative to the polish brush, and squeegee urchins at traffic lights can use them instead of chamoix.
polish powder n.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 295/1 Polish-powder, a preparation of plumbago for stoves and iron articles.
1929 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 20 Feb. 4/7 The cover on the little wooden box that held the polish powder and the polishing rags.
1998 Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) (Nexis) 23 Feb. c1 Then came the layer of moisturizer, ultimate polish powder, easy glide-on no-crease eye-shadow, [etc.].
polish stone n.
ΚΠ
?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii X. Table 96 A large smooth shining Gowry, which is used for a Polish or Slick-stone.
1738 G. Smith tr. Laboratory ii. 60 With a Polish-Stone and the Chalk, polish your Foyles.
1992 Chicago Sun-Times (Nexis) 7 June (Travel) 10 A polish stone, a hard rock used to buff softer rocks.
C2.
polish remover n. a solvent used for removing nail varnish.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the body > [noun] > beautification of the hands and feet > polish for nails > remover of
nail polish remover1922
polish remover1926
1926 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald 6 Aug. 4/4 (advt.) Cutex liquid nail polish or polish remover..23c.
2001 Org. Style Nov. 40/2 Dermatologists caution against using polish remover because it's drying.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
polishv.
/ˈpɒlɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈpɑlɪʃ/α. Middle English polche, Middle English polsche, Middle English polshe, Middle English poolshe, Middle English pulche, Middle English pulsche, Middle English pulshe, Middle English pulsshe. ▸ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1969) Jer. xlvi. 4 Goþ forþ to bataile..poolsheþ [v.r. pulsheth; a1425 L.V. polische; L. polite] speres.c1425 (c1395) G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale (Petworth) (1873) 1582 As who so toke a myrour polshed bright. ▸ 1440 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 416 Pulchon, polio.c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 5766 The cristal pulshede was so clene.c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 1734 I-pulsshid & I-pikid.c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) 121 Portreid and paynt & pulched ful clene.
β. Middle English police, Middle English polise, Middle English polist (past tense and past participle), Middle English polyce, Middle English polyse, Middle English polyst (past tense and past participle); Scottish pre-1700 poleis, pre-1700 police, pre-1700 polise, pre-1700 polist (past tense and past participle), pre-1700 pollist (past tense and past participle), pre-1700 polyst (past tense and past participle).
▸ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 2543 The Cuppe..was policed ek so clene.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 9975 Þat roche þat es polist [a1400 Gött. polichit; a1400 Trin. Cambr. polisshid; c1460 Laud poleshid] sa slight.c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 1131 He may polyce hym at þe prest by penaunce taken.c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) 1134 Polysed als playn as parchmen schaven.1578 in W. Mackay & H. C. Boyd Rec. Inverness (1911) I. 263 Deliverit him my sourd to poleis and dycht in his awin hand.1602 J. Colville Parænese 115 As if the auner [of a precious stone] the more to scheu the bonte and beaute tharof suld polise and inchas it in pure gold.γ. Middle English pelychoun (transmission error), Middle English polesche, Middle English poleshe, Middle English polessche, Middle English polich, Middle English polisch, Middle English polische, Middle English polissche, Middle English pollisch, Middle English pollissche, Middle English pollissh, Middle English pollysch, Middle English pollyssh, Middle English polysch, Middle English poolisch, Middle English–1500s polishe, Middle English–1500s polisshe, Middle English–1500s polysh, Middle English–1500s polysshe, Middle English– polish, 1500s polissh, 1500s pollishe, 1500s polyshe, 1500s–1700s pollish, 1900s– poalish (Scottish); N.E.D. (1907) also records a form Middle English pollishe. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 9975 Þe Roche þat es polichit [a 1425 polisshid] so sliht. ▸ ?1440 tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. 406 Polish al vp thy werk.c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 3223 Polischid all of pure gold.c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 5129 With pellicans & pape-ioyes polischt [altered from polischa] & grauen.c1475 Advice to Lovers in J. O. Halliwell Select. Minor Poems J. Lydgate (1840) 36 Thou thynkest hir pollisshed whan she is ful of rust.1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. BBBiiiv The more it is polysshed or rubbed.1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Polyshe paper or parchment smothe.1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 297 His successours..should pollish the stones which he had onely rough hewed.1703 Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) 213 Hard Wood they polish with Bees-wax... But Ivory they polish with Chalk and Water.1878 W. S. Gilbert H.M.S. Pinafore i I polished up the handle of the big front door.1994 J. Galloway Foreign Parts ii. 26 I got to polish the upholstery and chrome. I liked the chrome.
δ. late Middle English pulesche, late Middle English puliche, late Middle English pulisch, late Middle English pulische, late Middle English pulissh, late Middle English pullyche, late Middle English–1500s pullishe, late Middle English–1500s pullisshe, 1500s pullessh, 1500s pullysh, 1500s pullyshe, 1500s pullysshe, 1500s–1600s pullish; N.E.D. (1907) also records forms late Middle English pulich, late Middle English pullysh, late Middle English pullyssh, late Middle English pullysshe. ?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 79 Oþer dyamaundes..er mare tendre..and þerfor may þai þe lyghtlyer be pulischt.?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 100 To puliche [1483 BL Add. 89074 Pulische].1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 194 As fayre and nette as though it were pullyshed.1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Rr1v The Rules will helpe, if they bee laboured and pullished by practise.
Signification.
1.
a. transitive. To make smooth (and usually glossy) by friction; (in later use also) to apply polish to or rub polish into. Also with up. Also: to make bright (obsolete rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > polishing > polish [verb (transitive)]
rollc1300
burnishc1325
burnc1374
polisha1382
dighta1400
glazec1440
glazer1473
frubbish1570
shine1604
the world > matter > light > intensity of light > [verb (transitive)] > brighten
brightOE
polisha1382
schirka1400
sheerc1400
esclarish1546
brighten1567
to set up1588
undarken1598
embright1605
embrighten1610
resplendour1632
undarka1644
elucidate1675
vivify1791
the world > matter > light > reflection > [verb (transitive)] > polish or cause to shine with reflected light
frot?c1225
burnishc1325
polisha1382
varnishc1405
silvera1592
shine1604
frub1611
rutilate1623
silken1757
gloss1762
pearl1843
gloze1880
lap1881
sheen1901
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > rubbing or friction > rub [verb (transitive)] > scrape or rub smooth
polisha1382
ruba1382
scrapec1430
abrase?a1475
to rub down1794
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > make smooth [verb (transitive)] > make smooth and polished or glossy
slicka1225
polisha1382
sleekc1440
levigate1617
sleeken1621
slicken1621
conglaciate1656
steel1807
the world > action or operation > completing > complete (an action or piece of work) [verb (transitive)] > bring to final stage or form
polish1548
finalize1922
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1969) Jer. xlvi. 4 Goþ forþ to bataile..poolsheþ [v.r. pulsheth; a1425 L.V. polische; L. polite] speres.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 9887 Þis castel es..hei sett a-pon þe crag..Dunward þan es it polist [a1400 polscht] slight.
?a1425 (?c1350) Northern Passion (Rawl.) 2379 (MED) Þan doun þai hewed þat haly tre..þai polyst it and made it playne.
a1500 in A. Zettersten Middle Eng. Lapidary (1968) 25 (MED) Iasper..is depe grene, & whenne she is polyshid, she hathe rede dropes.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 4589 Planettes in the pure aire pullishet full clene.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. clv*v These candelstickes wer polished lyke Aumbre.
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things ix. 250 If it haue then the cullour of right Corrall: make it in the forme or fashion you thinke good, drye it, and polysh it according to arte.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 719 Before it be polished, it is of a reddish and rustie colour.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xv. 350 The shell is all within and without, of a pure white, shining as if it were smoothly polished.
1703 Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) 213 Hard Wood they polish with Bees-wax... But Ivory they polish with Chalk and Water.
1776 tr. G. Beccaria Treat. Artific. Electr. i. 15 I now make use of a plate which is about a foot in diameter..it is polished like a looking-glass, and very even.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 201 For the purpose of being polished and shaped into a column.
1878 W. S. Gilbert H.M.S. Pinafore i I polished up the handle of the big front door.
1902 Daily Chron. 9 June 7/2 A negro whose boots he had declined to polish.
1955 Times 18 Aug. 5/1 Men employed as outside batmen in the married quarters were expected to clean and polish the houses.
2001 I. McEwan Atonement 285 She scrubbed down the vacated lockers, helped wash bedframes in carbolic, swept and polished the floors.
b. intransitive. To become smooth, take a smooth (and usually glossy) surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > become smooth [verb (intransitive)] > and polished or glossy
polish1626
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §849 A kind of steel..which would polish almost as white and bright as silver.
1728 E. Young Love of Fame: Universal Passion (ed. 2) iii. 224 'Tis solid bodies only polish well.
1898 Arch. Surg. 9 314 None of these patches..shewed the least tendency to polish.
1986 Horse & Rider Sept. 26/1 Floor... Concrete..has a tendency to ‘polish’ after a while.
2004 Roanoke (Va.) Times & World News (Nexis) 7 Mar. 2004 (Business section) 1 Porosity can lead to cracked rings and rings that do not polish well.
c. intransitive. To make something smooth (and usually glossy) by friction; to apply polish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > polishing > polish [verb (intransitive)]
polish1715
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > rubbing or friction > rub [verb (intransitive)] > polish or rub smooth
abrade1675
polish1715
1715 N. Dubois & G. Leoni tr. A. Palladio Architecture I. x. 16 Polishing and glazing even to the very channelling or flutes of the Columns.
1796 J. Ebers New & Compl. Dict. German & Eng. Lang. I. 439/2 Bohnen, das, the Act of polishing with Wax, the waxing of any Thing.
1803 T. Sheraton Cabinet Dict. 289 At other times they polish with soft wax.
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Polisher, n., the person or instrument that polishes.
1919 L. R. Balderston Housewifery vi. 133 Rottenstone is a fine gray powder... Like any gritty substance, it works best with a lubricator like oil. In this way it cleans and polishes.
1961 Mod. Maturity 4 19/2 Some women get a real thrill out of housework. They love to dust, scrub, polish, wax floors, move the furniture around from place to place, [etc.].
1988 A. Desai Baumgartner's Bombay ii. 26 He watched his father's employees polish and dust.
d. transitive. colloquial. To eat up every scrap of (food); to wipe or scrape up and eat every last trace of food from (one's plate, bowl, etc.). Cf. sense 4. †to polish a bone: to eat a meal (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (transitive)] > polish one's plate
polish1788
1788 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (ed. 2) (at cited word) To polish a bone, to eat a meal. Come and polish a bone with me, come and eat a dinner or supper with me.
1868 J. Hartley Yorkshire Ditties 105 He worn't lang i' polishin that an' cutting another.
1879 Yorkshireman's Comic Ann. 35 in Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. (1896) 11 Apr. Ther's Jim Umpleby comin'. He'll polish t'gooise if onnybody can.
1908 A. J. Dawson Finn xix. 289 Finn polish the tin dish clean and bright.
1962 M. Duffy That's how it Was x. 85 The little Reeses polished their plates after every meal.
2002 Coventry Evening Tel. (Nexis) 28 Jan. (Features section) 15 I need someone to..say ‘ooh, that looks lovely’ and then when their plate is polished to lean back from the table and go ‘delicious, thanks.’
2. figurative.† b. transitive. To gloss over (a sin, treacherous act, etc.). Obsolete. rare.† d. intransitive. To become refined. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To free from roughness or coarseness; to make more elegant, cultured, or refined; to improve. In quot. c1400: to cleanse, purify of guilt. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)] > purify or refine
slick1340
filec1400
polishc1400
burnish1526
polite1535
extirpate1548
purify1548
soften1579
purgea1582
refine1592
mellow1593
civilize1596
rarefy1600
incivilize1603
sublimate1624
alembicate1627
chastise1627
sublime1631
calcine1635
gentilize1635
ennoble1636
subtilize1638
deconcoct1655
sublimizea1729
smooth1762
absterge1817
decrassify1855
sandpaper1890
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (intransitive)] > purify or refine
polish1961
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 2393 (MED) I halde þe polysed of þat plyȝt.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 4427 Bot he can practise & paynt & polisch his wordis.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) cxxxix. 3 Thai polyst the wordis of thaire felony as neddirs.
1545 J. Bale Mysterye Inyquyte P. Pantolabus f. 82 Is not Pantolabus..a pure handed artyficer and a cleane fyngered gentylmanne that so can polyshe his poesyes?
?1577 F. T. Debate Pride & Lowlines To Rdr. sig. Aijv Thou maiest finde: Some matters (though not pullished with art,) To make thee laugh.
1620 T. Cooper Cry & Reuenge of Blood 62 My long expected Paines, concerning the Delusions of the Time..which I am reuising and polishing at my best leysure.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 610 Arts that polish Life. View more context for this quotation
1705 J. Toland Let. 14 Dec. in Coll. Several Pieces (1726) II. 355 I..finish'd it in a very few days, without any to advise me..and not master of time enough to polish the very language.
1773 S. Johnson Let. 14 Sept. (1992) II. 70 The Eldest [daughter] is the beauty of this part of the world, and has been polished at Edinburgh.
1818 T. B. Macaulay in G. O. Trevelyan Life & Lett. Macaulay (1876) I. ii. 90 Books of amusement tend to polish the mind.
1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. xiv. 215 Foreign life polishes one in spite of one's self.
1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) xv. 235 Mrs. Ayre was thrown back for employment on a series of maids, and was always to be found hard at work ‘polishing’ some raw girl.
1961 E. Streeter Chairman of Bored xxiii. 221 Did men become perfectionists as they grew older, polishing, polishing, reluctant to let go?
1986 New Yorker 8 Sept. 29/1 They were on the air in force, polishing their hillbilly accents.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > excuse > excuse (a person or fault) [verb (transitive)] > extenuate
whiteOE
gloze1390
colourc1400
emplasterc1405
littlec1450
polish?c1450
daub1543
plaster1546
blanch1548
flatter1552
extenuate1570
alleviate1577
soothe1587
mincea1591
soothe1592
palliate1604
sweeten1635
rarefy1637
mitigate1651
glossa1656
whitewash1703
qualify1749
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 61 By hem..that confessithe hem to the preest..and polysshithe [Fr. pollicent] her synne.
c1475 tr. A. Chartier Quadrilogue (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1974) 203 (MED) These ben the dissolucions that thou puttest before the to our reproche for to pollisch and couere thy malicious soteltees by thy mouthe.
c. transitive. With adverb or adverbial phrase: to do away with, take out of, bring into some state or form by polishing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (transitive)] > improve into or out of a condition
subtilize1653
improve1700
polish1712
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 370. ⁋2 Such elegant Entertainments as these, would polish the Town into Judgment in their Gratifications.
1718 Free-thinker No. 39. 1 An over-judicious Author..polishes away the Strength and Energy of his Thoughts.
1787 H. More in A. Yearsley Poems p. x I should be sorry to see the wild vigour of her rustic muse polished into elegance, or laboured into correctness.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xvii. 29 His rude doctrines were polished into a form somewhat less shocking to good sense and good taste.
1858 N. Hawthorne French & Ital. Note-bks. II. 148 The wholesome coarseness..which no education..can polish out of the genuine Englishman.
1951 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 27 Apr. 10/6 A recommendation, still to be polished into final shape, designed to prevent the interstate transmission of information for gambling purposes.
1998 New Statesman 11 Dec. 46 The grain of experience is smoothed or polished away, as truth becomes gunged with sentiment.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [verb (intransitive)] > become purified or refined
sublime1624
polish1712
mellow1737
bleach1799
purify1805
sublimate1850
1712 J. Swift Proposal for Eng. Tongue 14 The French [language] for these last Fifty Years hath been polishing as much as it will bear.
a1777 S. Foote Capuchin (1778) i. 99 She insists upon his polishing a little.
3. transitive. To bring to a finished or complete state, to perfect; to make fully presentable; to deck out or adorn. Now only with up.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautify [verb (transitive)] > ornament > trim or deck out
perfurnish1375
enflourish?a1400
varnish14..
perform1420
to pick outc1429
polish?1440
trimc1516
to set out1523
trick?1532
face1542
trick1545
prank1546
tricka1555
bawdefy1562
tickle1567
prink1573
finify1586
deck1587
decore1603
betrima1616
fangle1615
beprank1648
prim1688
to garnish outa1704
decorate1782
to do off1794
dizen1807
tricolatea1825
fal-lal1845
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) i. 406 Polish al vp thy werk.
c1475 Scrope's Dicts & Sayings Philosophers (Rawl.) (1999) 310 (MED) He saw a womman that made her freysh and polished her.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxi. 88 To polishe out this point with those effectuall reasons.
1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. C4 Other..there be..that pinche their bellies to polish their backs.
1762 J. Steuart Considerations Interest County of Lanark 71 The idea of a Mealbank, which..will..be soon polished up, and fitted for execution.
1817 M. Edgeworth Ormond II. xxvi. 175 I always thought her a sweet, pretty little creature..and no doubt she has been polished up; and dress and fashion make such a difference in a woman.
1885 Manch. Examiner 15 June 6/2 To dot his i's and cross his t's and polish up his manuscript.
1908 E. F. Benson Climber iii. 42 And for herself—well, she had determined to polish up her French, and make the most of herself and other things.
1960 Wall St. Jrnl. 4 Jan. 1/1 We've got a new president... We need a man who can polish him up, give him the vocabulary and the right things to say.
1990 Christian Woman Apr. 34/1 At the moment I have another Dai book and two McDorwuff books in draft form. It would only need a day to polish them up.
4. transitive. colloquial. to polish off: to complete or consume quickly or easily (cf. sense 1d); to get rid of, destroy, or kill.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > complete (an action or piece of work) [verb (transitive)] > quickly
expedite1471
depeach1483
dispatchc1515
dispeed1626
to polish off1827
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > eradicate or extirpate
fornimOE
to put awaya1382
outroot?a1425
unroot?a1425
out-razec1425
to pluck up1484
avell1530
sweep1560
depopulate1576
ruina1586
assoil1596
to lay aside1596
untop1598
displant1603
float1606
to take off1619
amolish1624
uproota1639
eradicate1647
to lay by1681
to polish off1827
uprend1911
to zero out1951
1827 W. Wheeler Let. 17 May (1951) 262 The brig was in good time to polish off the rough work Cochrane had made on her, whilst the Hellenus went after another 74.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxv. 268 Mayn't I polish that ere Job off, in the front garden?
1873 C. G. Leland Egyptian Sketch-bk. 282 The two between them could polish off a bottle of sherry in less time.
1921 V. Woolf Diary 17 Apr. (1977) II. 112 Now I must write to Lytton & polish off a review.
1951 D. Du Maurier My Cousin Rachel xiv. 161 I polished off the last of the sweet cakes that had been put before the visitors.
1996 Mail on Sunday 28 Apr. (You Mag.) 34 Realising that it would be considered rude to leave any of the drink, she swiftly polished it off.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1adj.1555
n.21597v.a1382