different between polish vs civilization

English

Etymology

From Middle English polishen, from Old French poliss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of polir, from Latin pol?re (“to polish, make smooth”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: p?'l?sh, IPA^(key): /?p?l??/
• (US) enPR: pä'l?sh, IPA^(key): /?p?l??/

Noun

polish (countable and uncountable, plural polishes)

1. A substance used to polish.

2. Cleanliness; smoothness, shininess.

3. Refinement; cleanliness in performance or presentation.

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

Related terms

• polissoir

Translations

See also

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

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.

3. (transitive) To refine; remove imperfections from.
   • 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations

     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.
   • 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.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• polishable
• polished
• polisher
• polishing
• polishment
• polishure
• repolish
• unpolish

Related terms

• polite

Translations

See also

• interpolish
• polish off
• polish up, polish up on

Further reading

• polish in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• polish in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• polish at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Hislop, philos

English

Wikiquote

Alternative forms

• civilisation (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from French civilisation.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?s?v.?.la??ze?.??n/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): [?s?v.?.l?e?zæ?.??n]
• (US) IPA^(key): /?s?v.?.l??ze?.??n/

Noun

civilization (countable and uncountable, plural civilizations)

1. An organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political, or technical development.
2. (uncountable) Human society, particularly civil society.

3. The act or process of civilizing or becoming civilized.

4. The state or quality of being civilized.

5. (obsolete) The act of rendering a criminal process civil.

Synonyms

• (large-scale stage of societal development): culture, order
• (group of countries): sphere
• (act of civilizing): education, acculturation
• (preferred human society): home, the land of the living

Derived terms

Related terms

• civilize

Translations

Proper noun

civilization

1. Collectively, those people of the world considered to have a high standard of behavior and / or a high level of development. Commonly subjectively used by people of one society to exclusively refer to their society, or their elite sub-group, or a few associated societies, implying all others, in time or geography or status, as something less than civilised, as savages or barbarians. cf refinement, elitism, civilised society, the Civilised World

Translations

References

• civilization in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• civilization in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• civilization at OneLook Dictionary Search
• "civilization" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 57.
• civilization in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.