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dossier - 4 dictionary results

dos⋅si⋅er

  [dos-ee-ey, -ee-er, daw-see-ey, -see-er; Fr. daw-syey]
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–noun, plural dos⋅si⋅ers  [dos-ee-eyz, -ee-erz, daw-see-eyz, -see-ers; Fr. daw-syey] .
a collection or file of documents on the same subject, esp. a complete file containing detailed information about a person or topic.
Origin:
1875–80; < F: bundle of documents with a label attached to the back or spine, equiv. to dos (< L dorsum) back + -ier -ier 2

Synonyms:
record, report, folder.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dos·si·er   (dŏs'ē-ā', dô'sē-ā')   
n.  A collection of papers giving detailed information about a particular person or subject.

[French, from Old French, bundle of papers labeled on the back, from dos, back, from Latin dorsum.]
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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Dossier

Dos`sier"\ (d[-o]s`sy[asl]"; E. d[o^]s"s[i^]*[~e]r), n. [F., back of a thing, bulging bundle of papers, fr. dos back.] A bundle containing the papers in reference to some matter.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : dossier
Spanish: expediente, dossier,
German: Akten (pl.),
Japanese: 一件書類
More Translations »

dossier 
1880, from Fr. dossier "bundle of papers," from dos "back," supposedly because the bundle bore a label on the back, from L. dossum, var. of dorsum "back." Or possibly from resemblance of the bulge in a mass of bundled papers to the curve of a back.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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