You can picture refurbish as going over something that is still sound but tired, surface by surface, until it is bright again. Nothing is thrown away and started from scratch: the thing keeps its shape, its place and its name, and what changes is the condition it is in. That is why the word fits a hotel, a second-hand laptop and an old policy equally well — in each case the original is still there, just gone over until it can be put back into use.
From the word’s history
Recorded from 1605, formed from re- plus furbish, which came through Middle French forbir meaning to clean or polish. That older sense of polishing sits close to how the word is used today.
這個字大約 1605 年出現，由 re-（再一次）加上 furbish 組成。furbish 經由中古法文 forbir 進入英文，意思是「擦亮、弄乾淨」。所以「再擦亮一次」這條線索，跟今天的用法對得上。
Wiktionary entry for refurbish, etymology_text supplied in this packet: 1605, from re- + furbish, from Middle English furbishen, from Middle French forbir (stem furbiss-, to clean, polish), from Frankish *furbēn.
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