Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Polite
Po-lite′
,Adj.
[
Com
par.
Politer
; sup
erl.
Politest
.] 1.
Smooth; polished.
[Obs.]
Rays of light falling on a
polite
surface. Sir I. Newton.
2.
Smooth and refined in behavior or manners; well bred; courteous; complaisant; obliging; civil.
He marries, bows at court, and grows
polite
. Pope.
3.
Characterized by refinement, or a high degree of finish;
as,
. polite
literatureMacaulay.
Syn. – Polished; refined; well bred; courteous; affable; urbane; civil; courtly; elegant; genteel.
Po-lite′
,Verb.
T.
To polish; to refine; to render polite.
[Obs.]
Ray.
Webster 1828 Edition
Polite
POLI'TE
,Adj.
1.
Literally, smooth, glossy, and used in this sense till within a century. Rays of light falling on a polite surface.
[This application of the word is, I believe, entirely obsolete.]
2.
Being polished or elegant in manners; refined in behavior; well bred. He marries, bows at court and grows polite.
3.
Courteous; complaisant; obliging. His manners were warm without insincerity, and polite without pomp.
Definition 2025
polite
polite
English
Adjective
polite (comparative politer or more polite, superlative politest or most polite)
- Well-mannered, civilized.
- Alexander Pope
- He marries, bows at court, and grows polite.
- 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
- I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.
- It's not polite to use a mobile phone in a restaurant.
- Alexander Pope
- (obsolete) Smooth, polished, burnished.
- Isaac Newton
- rays of light falling on a polite surface
- Isaac Newton
Usage notes
The one-word comparative form politer and superlative form politest exist, but are less common than their two-word counterparts more polite and most polite.
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:polite
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
well-mannered
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Verb
polite (third-person singular simple present polites, present participle politing, simple past and past participle polited)
- (obsolete, transitive) To polish; to refine; to render polite.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Ray to this entry?)
References
- J[ohn] A. Simpson and E[dward] S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0-19-861186-8.
External links
- polite in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- polite in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Anagrams
Latin
Verb
polīte
- second-person plural present active imperative of poliō
References
- polite in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- polite in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers