dossier
[dos-ee-ey, -ee-er, daw-see-ey, -see-er; French daw-syey]
- a collection or file of documents on the same subject, especially a complete file containing detailed information about a person or topic.
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Origin of dossier
1875–80; < French: bundle of documents with a label attached to the back or spine, equivalent to dos (< Latin dorsum) back + -ier -ier2
Synonyms
See more synonyms for dossier on Thesaurus.comrecord, report, folder.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dossier
Contemporary Examples
And yet, a dossier of allegations involving human rights could not help any cardinal at a moment like that.
Last year, the Home Office said the dossier had mysteriously disappeared from the archives.
Recently, when whistleblowers finally surfaced, the Home Office officials could find no trace of the dossier.
“What the dossier claims is staggering,” Michele De Luca, director of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, told Science Insider.
Benedict reportedly locked up the dossier in the papal apartments for the next pope to deal with.
Historical Examples
I've studied his dossier, and he's not the kind of man to switch loyalties that easily.
SecurityPoul William Anderson
I suspect that my dossier must have been interesting reading!
MemoirsCharles Godfrey Leland
Yes, it had been mentioned in a dossier from the Ministry of Justice.
Aladdin of LondonSir Max Pemberton
When he had found ink and paper he began the interrogation which should help his dossier.
Aladdin of LondonSir Max Pemberton
"Quite," said Mears; and he laid the Fentiman dossier on the table.
Mrs. ThompsonWilliam Babington Maxwell
dossier
- a collection of papers containing information on a particular subject or person
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Word Origin
C19: from French: a file with a label on the back, from dos back, from Latin dorsum
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for dossier
n.
1880, from French dossier "bundle of papers," from dos "back" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin dossum, variant of Latin dorsum "back" (see dorsal). Supposedly so called because the bundle bore a label on the back, or possibly from resemblance of the bulge in a mass of bundled papers to the curve of a back. Old French dossiere meant "back-strap, ridge strap (of a horse's harness)."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper