refurbish
verb
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As seems proper given how English prefixes work, before you could refurbish something you could furbish it. That shorter word was borrowed into Middle English in the 14th century from Anglo-French as furbisshen; it shares a distant relative with the Old High German verb furben, meaning "to polish." In its earliest uses furbish also meant "to polish," but it developed an extended sense of "to renovate" shortly before English speakers created refurbish with the same meaning in the 17th century. These days refurbish is the more common of the two words, although furbish does continue to be used.
Examples of refurbish in a Sentence
Elie Tenenbaum, Foreign Affairs, 3 Dec. 2024
The gadgets passing through Abubakar’s facility were largely imported as new or refurbished products, sold to Nigerian consumers, and later discarded.
—Vince Beiser, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024
The 6-bedroom rural estate has been lovingly refurbished to the highest standard and is available for exclusive use or for guests of The Glenturret Lalique restaurant.
—Mark Littler, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2024
The government has announced plans to refurbish historic attractions.
—Rania Khaled, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for refurbish 
Dictionary Entries Near refurbish
Cite this Entry
“Refurbish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refurbish. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.
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refurbish
verb
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