polish: [13] Latin polīre ‘make smooth and shiny’ is the ultimate source of English polish. It passed into Old French as polir, whose stem form was poliss- – whence polish. The element -pol- of English interpolate is related to polīre. => interpolate, polite
polish (v.)
early 14c., polischen "make smooth," from Old French poliss-, present participle stem of polir (12c.) "to polish, decorate, see to one's appearance," from Latin polire "to polish, make smooth; decorate, embellish;" figuratively "refine, improve," said to be from Proto-Indo-European *pel- "to thrust, strike, drive" (via the notion of fulling cloth). The sense of "free from coarseness, to refine" first recorded in English mid-14c. Related: Polished; polishing. Slang polish off "finish" is 1837, from notion of applying a coat of polish being the final step in a piece of work.
polish (n.)
1590s, "absence of coarseness," from polish (v.). From 1704 as "act of polishing;" 1819 as "substance used in polishing."
Polish (adj.)
1670s, from Pole + -ish. Related: Polishness. Polish-American attested from 1898.
雙語例句
1. Those killed have been described as the flower of Polish manhood.
那些犧牲者被稱為波蘭男子中的精英。
來自柯林斯例句
2. The president persuaded the West to write off Polish debts.
總統說通西方免除波蘭的債務。
來自柯林斯例句
3. The opera lacks the polish of his later work.
這部歌劇不及他晚期作品嫻熟。
來自柯林斯例句
4. She loved the scent in the house of wax polish.
她喜歡房子里打過蠟的味道。
來自柯林斯例句
5. He gave his counter a polish with a soft duster.