English
polish
Polish comes from Latin polīre ‘to polish, make smooth’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- ‘to drive, strike, thrust’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelh₂-‘to drive, strike, thrust’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpolīre‘to polish, make smooth’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500polishen
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1626polish
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelh₂-‘to drive, strike, thrust’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpolīre‘to polish, make smooth’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500polishen
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1626polish
Earliest quotation: a. 1626, Francis Bacon: “The other [gold], whether it will polish so well…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- ‘to drive, strike, thrust’
Today it means
noun A substance used to polish.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- / polish