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filé

[fi-ley, fee-ley]

noun New Orleans Cookery.

a powder made from the ground leaves of the sassafras tree, used as a thickener and to impart a pungent taste to soups, gumbos, and other dishes.

Origin of filé

1800–10, Americanism; < Louisiana French; literally, twisted, ropy, stringy (perhaps orig. applied to dishes thickened with the powder), past participle of French filer; see file1
Also called filé powder.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for filé

file

1

noun

a folder, box, etc, used to keep documents or other items in order
the documents, etc, kept in this way
documents or information about a specific subject, person, etcwe have a file on every known thief
an orderly line or row
a line of people in marching formation, one behind anotherCompare rank 1 (def. 6)
any of the eight vertical rows of squares on a chessboard
computing a named collection of information, in the form of text, programs, graphics, etc, held on a permanent storage device such as a magnetic disk
obsolete a list or catalogue
Canadian a group of problems or responsibilities, esp in government, associated with a particular topicthe environment file
on file recorded or catalogued for reference, as in a file

verb

to place (a document, letter, etc) in a file
(tr) to put on record, esp to place (a legal document) on public or official record; register
(tr) to bring (a suit, esp a divorce suit) in a court of law
(tr) to submit (copy) to a newspaper or news agency
(intr) to march or walk in a file or filesthe ants filed down the hill
Derived Formsfiler, noun

Word Origin for file

C16 (in the sense: string on which documents are hung): from Old French filer, from Medieval Latin fīlāre; see filament

file

2

noun

a hand tool consisting essentially of a steel blade with small cutting teeth on some or all of its faces. It is used for shaping or smoothing metal, wood, etc
rare, British slang a cunning or deceitful person

verb

(tr) to shape or smooth (a surface) with a file
Derived Formsfiler, noun

Word Origin for file

Old English fīl; related to Old Saxon fīla, Old High German fīhala file, Greek pikros bitter, sharp

file

3

verb

(tr) obsolete to pollute or defile

Word Origin for file

Old English fӯlan; related to Middle Low German vülen; see defile 1, filth, foul
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 filé

file

n.1

1520s, "string or wire on which documents are strung," from French file "row," from Middle French filer (see file (v.)). The meaning "arranged collection of papers" is from 1620s; computer sense is from 1954. The military sense "line or row of men" (1590s) is from the French verb in the sense of "spin out (thread); march in file."

file

v.

"to place (papers) in consecutive order for future reference," mid-15c., from Middle French filer "string documents on a wire for preservation or reference," from fil "thread, string" (12c.), from Latin filum "a thread, string," from PIE *gwhis-lom (cf. Armenian jil "sinew, string, line," Lithuanian gysla "vein, sinew," Old Church Slavonic zila "vein"), from root *gwhi- "thread, tendon." The notion is of documents hung up on a line.

File (filacium) is a threed or wyer, whereon writs, or other exhibits in courts, are fastened for the better keeping of them. [Cowel, "The Interpreter," 1607]

Methods have become more sophisticated, but the word has stuck. Related: Filed; filing.

file

n.2

metal tool, Old English feol (Mercian fil), from Proto-Germanic *finkhlo (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German fila, Middle Dutch vile, Dutch vijl, German Feile), probably from PIE *peig- "to cut, mark by incision" (see paint (v.)). The verb in this sense is from early 13c., from Old English filian. Related: Filed; filing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
filé in Science

file

[fīl]

A collection of related data or program records stored as a unit with a single name. Files are the basic units that a computer works with in storing and retrieving data.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Idioms and Phrases with filé

file

see in single file; on file; rank and file.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.