dossier

[dos-ee-ey, -ee-er, daw-see-ey, -see-er; French daw-syey]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dossier ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural dos·si·ers [dos-ee-eyz, -ee-erz, daw-see-eyz, -see-ers; French daw-syey] /ˈdɒs iˌeɪz, -i ərz, ˈdɔ siˌeɪz, -si ərs; French dɔˈsyeɪ/.

a collection or file of documents on the same subject, especially a complete file containing detailed information about a person or topic.

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 for dossier

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR dossier ON THESAURUS.COM

record, report, folder.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dossier

summary, profile, information, record, archives, report, portfolio

Examples from the Web for dossier

Contemporary Examples of dossier

And yet, a dossier of allegations involving human rights could not help any cardinal at a moment like that.
How Pope Francis Became the World’s BFF
Jason Berry
December 21, 2014
Last year, the Home Office said the dossier had mysteriously disappeared from the archives.
Victim: I Watched British MPs Rape and Murder Young Boys
Nico Hines
December 18, 2014
Recently, when whistleblowers finally surfaced, the Home Office officials could find no trace of the dossier.
The Castration of Alan Turing, Britain’s Code-Breaking WWII Hero
Clive Irving
November 29, 2014
“What the dossier claims is staggering,” Michele De Luca, director of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, told Science Insider.
‘Hero’ Doc Accused of Harvesting Stem Cells in Dirty Basements
Barbie Latza Nadeau
April 29, 2014
Benedict reportedly locked up the dossier in the papal apartments for the next pope to deal with.
Is Pope Francis Going After the Vatican’s ‘Gay Lobby’?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
June 12, 2013

Historical Examples of dossier

I've studied his dossier, and he's not the kind of man to switch loyalties that easily.
Security
Poul William Anderson
I suspect that my dossier must have been interesting reading!
Memoirs
Charles Godfrey Leland
Yes, it had been mentioned in a dossier from the Ministry of Justice.
Aladdin of London
Sir Max Pemberton
When he had found ink and paper he began the interrogation which should help his dossier.
Aladdin of London
Sir Max Pemberton
"Quite," said Mears; and he laid the Fentiman dossier on the table.
Mrs. Thompson
William Babington Maxwell

British Dictionary definitions for dossier

dossier

noun

a collection of papers containing information on a particular subject or person

Word Origin for dossier

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dossier

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)."