Meaning

noun the property of being smooth and shiny

noun a highly developed state of perfection; having a flawless or impeccable quality; ; ; --Joseph Conrad

noun a preparation used in polishing

originFrom Middle English polishen, from Old French poliss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of polir, from Latin polīre (“to polish, make smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂- (“to drive, strike, thrust”), from the notion of fulling cloth.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0