Polish
Middle English: from Old French poliss-, lengthened stem of polir ‘to polish’, from Latin polire .
wiktionary
From Middle English polishen, from Old Frenchpoliss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of polir, from Latin polīre(“to polish, make smooth”).
etymonline
polish (v.)
early 14c., polishen "make smooth or glossy" by friction or coating (of the surface of wood, stone, metal, etc.), 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 by Watkins to be from PIE root *pel- (5) "to thrust, strike, drive," via the notion of fulling cloth, but there are other guesses.
The figurative sense of "free from coarseness, to refine" in English is recorded from mid-14c. Compare polite. Related: Polished; polishing. To polish off "finish" is by 1829 in pugilism slang, probably from the application of a coat of polish as the final step in a piece of work.
polish (n.)
1590s, originally figurative, "absence of coarseness, elegance or style of manners," from polish (v.). From 1704 as "smoothness of surface;" 1705 as "act of polishing;" 1819 as "substance used in polishing."
Polish (adj.)
"of or pertaining to Poland or its natives or inhabitants," 1670s, from Pole + -ish. Related: Polishness. Polish-American is attested by 1883 in the Chicago newspapers. An earlier adjective was Polonian (1580s), from the Latin form of the name.
