file - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Old French fil (“thread”), from Latin fīlum (“thread”). Doublet of filum.

file (plural files)

  1. A collection of papers collated and archived together.
  2. A roll or list.
  3. A course of thought; a thread of narration.
  4. (computing) An aggregation of data on a storage device, identified by a name.
    He had created a file for coding to design a new product.
    I'm going to delete these unwanted files to free up some disk space.
  5. A row of modular kitchen units and a countertop, consisting of cabinets and appliances below (dishwasher) and next to (stove/cooker) a countertop.
    Many homes now have double-file kitchens.
  6. (Canada, US) Clipping of file cabinet.
    • 2010, Beth Critchley Charlton, Englaging the DisEngaged‎[3], page 71:
      The Nonfiction Vertical File: […] I spent my university years working in the library at the Maritime School of Social Work. One of my responsibilities was to keep the library's vertical file up to date. The vertical file was a cabinet full of current newspaper and magazine clippings on topics of interest to the students and faculty of the school.

Descendants

collection of papers

computing, aggregation of data

kitchen units and countertop

file (third-person singular simple present files, present participle filing, simple past and past participle filed)

  1. (transitive) To commit (official papers) to some office.
    She filed their accounts yesterday.
    • 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎[4]:
      The episode’s unwillingness to fully commit to the pathos of the Bart-and-Laura subplot is all the more frustrating considering its laugh quota is more than filled by a rollicking B-story that finds Homer, he of the iron stomach and insatiable appetite, filing a lawsuit against The Frying Dutchman when he’s hauled out of the eatery against his will after consuming all of the restaurant’s shrimp (plus two plastic lobsters).
  2. (transitive) (of a journalist) To submit (an article) to a newspaper or similar publication.
    I filed my copy soon after the interview.
  3. (transitive) To place in an archive in a logical place and order.
    Troves of documents filed away in the depository.
  4. (transitive) To store a file (aggregation of data) on a storage medium such as a disc or another computer.
  5. (transitive; intransitive, with for; chiefly law) To submit a formal request to some office.
    She filed for divorce the next day.
    The company filed for bankruptcy when the office opened on Monday.
    They filed for a refund under their warranty.
    • 2026 April 22, Jillian Sanders, “The Danger of Surrendering Your Financial Independence in a Relationship”, in TIME‎[5], archived from the original on 22 April 2026:
      What started as a way to cover my expenses became something I could turn into a full-time job. Within a year, I filed an LLC and made it official.
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To set in order; to arrange, or lay away.

transitive: to commit papers — see also present,‎ declare

to archive — see also archive

to store computer data

intransitive: to make a formal request

From French file, from filer (“to spin out, arrange one behind another”), from Latin fīlāre, from filum (“thread”).

file (plural files)

  1. A column of people one behind another, whether "single file" or in a grid pattern.
    Antonym: rank
    The troops marched in Indian file.
  2. (military) A small detachment of soldiers.
  3. (chess) One of the eight vertical lines of squares on a chessboard (i.e., those identified by a letter).
    Antonym: rank

column of people

small detachment of soldiers

chess: vertical line of squares

file (third-person singular simple present files, present participle filing, simple past and past participle filed)

  1. (intransitive) To move in a file.
    The applicants kept filing into the room until it was full.

move in a file or in a line

From Middle English file, fyle, from Old English fēl, fēol (“file”), from earlier fīil, from Proto-Germanic *finhlō, *finhilō (“file, rasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- (“to adorn, form”). Cognate with West Frisian file (“file”), Dutch vijl (“file”), German Feile (“file”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish fil (“file”), Icelandic þjöl (“rasp, file”).

a file (etymology 3, noun sense 1)

file (plural files)

  1. A tool consisting of a strip or rod of hardened and coarse metal, used for removing sharp edges, shaping, and cutting, especially through metal; usually a hand tool.
    Hypernym: tool
    Hyponym: rasp (sometimes construed as coordinate)
  2. (slang, archaic) A cunning or resourceful person.
  3. (slang, obsolete) A pickpocket.
    • 1743, Henry Fielding, The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great:
      The greatest character among them was that of a pickpocket, or, in their language, a file.

file (third-person singular simple present files, present participle filing, simple past and past participle filed)

  1. (transitive) To smooth, grind, or cut with a file.
    I'd better file the bottoms of the table legs. Otherwise they will scratch the flooring.
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
      Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.

smooth with a file

From Middle English filen (“to defile”), from Old English fȳlan (“to defile, make foul”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūlijan (“to make foul”). More at defile.

file (third-person singular simple present files, present participle filing, simple past and past participle filed)

  1. (archaic) To defile.
    Synonyms: befoul, foil, inquinate; see also Thesaurus:dirty
  2. To corrupt.
    Synonyms: immoralize, lead astray, warp; see also Thesaurus:pervert

Borrowed from French file (“line, row”), from Late Latin filare, from Latin filum (“thread”). Related to fileren (“to fillet”) and file (“computer file”).

file f (plural files, diminutive filetje n)

  1. traffic jam
    Synonym: opstopping
  2. (dated) queue
    Synonym: rij

From English file (“computer file”), from Old French fil (“thread”), from Latin filum (“thread”). Related to fileren (“to fillet”) and file (“queue, traffic jam”).

file m (plural files, diminutive filetje n)

  1. (computing) file (an aggregation of data on a storage device identified by a name)

fil- + -e

file

  1. filially (in a filial manner or way)

file

  1. alternative form of filee

From fil or the verb filer.

file f (plural files)

  1. a line of objects placed one after the other
  2. (Belgium) traffic jam
    Synonyms: bouchon, embouteillage

file

  1. inflection of filer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

From Old Irish fili,[1] from Primitive Irish ᚃᚓᚂᚔᚈᚐᚄ (velitas), from Proto-Celtic *welīts.

file m (genitive singular **file, nominative plural filí)

  1. poet

Archaic declension:

Mutated forms of file

radical lenition eclipsis
file fhile bhfile

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

  1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “fili”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  2. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899), Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), Zweiter Band: Wörterbuch [Second volume: Dictionary], Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 111
  3. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906), A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 39

Unadapted borrowing from English file.

file m (invariable)

  1. (computing) file

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

file f

  1. plural of fila

  2. ^ file in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

From Arabic فَلَّاح (fallāḥ), from Classical Syriac ܦܠܚܐ (pallāḥā).[1] Sedentary Armenians called so after their way of life by nomadic Kurds.[2] Doublet of pale.

Compare with the use of Latin paganus, originally referring to rural people, then extended to refer to "pagans" or nonbelievers.

Central Kurdish فەلە (fele)

file m or f

  1. Christian
  2. Armenian
  3. peasant, farmer, heathen
  1. ^ Chyet, Michael L. (2003), “file”, in Kurdish–English Dictionary‎[1], with selected etymologies by Martin Schwartz, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, page 195a
  2. ^ Cabolov, R. L. (2010), Etimologičeskij slovarʹ kurdskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Kurdish Language] (in Russian), volume II, Moscow: Russian Academy Press Vostochnaya Literatura, page 354

From fil f (“a file”).

file (present tense filar/filer, past tense fila/filte, past participle fila/filt, passive infinitive filast, present participle filande, imperative **file/fil)

  1. (transitive) To use a file to file.
  2. (transitive) To rub (making a sound).
  3. (transitive, figurative) To polish, refine.

Probably related to Swedish fil.

file m (definite singular filen, indefinite plural filar, definite plural filane)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{[rfdef](/wiki/Template:rfdef#top "Template:rfdef")}}.

file

  1. alternative form of fil

From Latin filia.

file f (plural files)

  1. girl
  2. daughter

file

  1. inflection of filar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

filẹ̑ m inan

  1. fillet
Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing. filé
gen. sing. filêja
singular dual plural
nominative(imenovȃlnik) filé filêja filêji
genitive(rodȋlnik) filêja filêjev filêjev
dative(dajȃlnik) filêju filêjema filêjem
accusative(tožȋlnik) filé filêja filêje
locative(mẹ̑stnik) filêju filêjih filêjih
instrumental(orọ̑dnik) filêjem filêjema filêji

file

  1. inflection of filar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

-file (infinitive kufile)

  1. (Sheng) to file (to make a formal request)

A shopping file. (2)

From French filée.[1]

file (definite accusative fileyi, plural fileler)

  1. A net made of wool, cotton etc.; mesh.
  2. A meshwork bag used for shopping.
  3. A hairnet.
  4. (sports) A net inside the goal in games like association football, handball etc.
  5. (sports) A net that divides the court in games like tennis, volleyball, badminton etc.
  1. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “file”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

Borrowed from English file.

file

  1. (computing) file