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Enfilade

 - 3 dictionary results

en⋅fi⋅lade

  [en-fuh-leyd, -lahd, en-fuh-leyd, -lahd] noun, verb, -lad⋅ed, -lad⋅ing.
Use Enfilade in a Sentence
–noun
1. Military.
a. a position of works, troops, etc., making them subject to a sweeping fire from along the length of a line of troops, a trench, a battery, etc.
b. the fire thus directed.
2. Architecture.
a. an axial arrangement of doorways connecting a suite of rooms with a vista down the whole length of the suite.
b. an axial arrangement of mirrors on opposite sides of a room so as to give an effect of an infinitely long vista.
–verb (used with object)
3. Military. to attack with an enfilade.
Origin:
1695–1705; < F, equiv. to enfil(er) to thread, string (en- en- 1 + -filer, deriv. of fil < L fīlum thread) + -ade -ade 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Enfilade
en·fi·lade   (ěn'fə-lād', -läd')   
n.  

  1. Gunfire directed along the length of a target, such as a column of troops.

  2. A target vulnerable to sweeping gunfire.

  3. Architecture A linear arrangement of a series of interior doors, as to a suite of rooms, so as to provide a vista when the doors are open.

tr.v.   en·fi·lad·ed, en·fi·lad·ing, en·fi·lades
To rake with gunfire.

[French, series, string, row, from enfiler, to string together, run through, from Old French : en-, in, on; see en-1 + fil, thread (from Latin fīlum; see gwhī- in Indo-European roots).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

enfilade 
1706, from F. enfilade, from O.Fr. enfiler "to thread (a needle) on a string, pierce from end to end," from en- "put on" + fil "thread." Used of rows of apartments and lines of trees before modern military sense came to predominate.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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