Noah Webster
Polite
POLI'TE, adjective [Latin politus, polished, from polio, supra.]
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.