file

file · noun, verb¹

1. Latin · derived fromfīlum“thread”
2. Old French · derived fromfil“thread”
3. English todayfile

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

file · noun, verb²

1. Latin · derived fromfīlāre
2. French · derived fromfile
3. English todayfile

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

file · noun, verb³

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peyḱ-“to adorn, form”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*finhlō
3. Old English · inherited fromfēl
4. Middle English · inherited fromfile
5. English todayfile

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”).

file · verb⁴

1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fūlijan“to make foul”
2. Old English · inherited fromfȳlan“to defile, make foul”
3. Middle English · inherited fromfilen“to defile”
4. English todayfile

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.

Words from the same roots