a folder, cabinet, or other container in which papers, letters, etc., are arranged in convenient order for storage or reference.
2.
a collection of papers, records, etc., arranged in convenient order: to make a file for a new account.
3.
Computers. a collection of related data or program records stored on some input/output or auxiliary storage medium: This program's main purpose is to update the customer master file.
4.
a line of persons or things arranged one behind another (distinguished from rank).
5.
Military.
a.
a person in front of or behind another in a military formation.
b.
one step on a promotion list.
6.
one of the vertical lines of squares on a chessboard.
7.
a list or roll.
8.
a string or wire on which papers are strung for preservation and reference.
–verb (used with object)
9.
to place in a file.
10.
to arrange (papers, records, etc.) in convenient order for storage or reference.
11.
Journalism.
a.
to arrange (copy) in the proper order for transmittal by wire.
b.
to transmit (copy), as by wire or telephone: He filed copy from Madrid all through the war.
–verb (used without object)
12.
to march in a file or line, one after another, as soldiers: The parade filed past endlessly.
13.
to make application: to file for a civil-service job.
—Idiom
14.
on file, arranged in order for convenient reference; in a file: The names are on file in the office.
[Origin: 1425–75; late ME filen < MF filer to string documents on a thread or wire, OF: to wind or spin thread < LL fīlāre, v. deriv. of L fīlum thread, string]
a long, narrow tool of steel or other metal having a series of ridges or points on its surfaces for reducing or smoothing surfaces of metal, wood, etc.
2.
a small, similar tool for trimming and cleaning fingernails; nail file.
3.
BritishSlang. a cunning, shrewd, or artful person.
–verb (used with object)
4.
to reduce, smooth, or remove with or as if with a file.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE fīl, féol; c. G Feile; akin to Gk pikrós sharp]
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.
Also called filé powder.
[Origin: 1800–10, Americanism; < LaF; lit., twisted, ropy, stringy (perh. orig. applied to dishes thickened with the powder), ptp. of F filer; see file1]
A container, such as a cabinet or folder, for keeping papers in order.
A collection of papers or published materials kept or arranged in convenient order.
Computer Science A collection of related data or program records stored as a unit with a single name.
A line of persons, animals, or things positioned one behind the other.
A line of troops or military vehicles so positioned.
Games Any of the rows of squares that run forward and backward between players on a playing board in chess or checkers.
Archaic A list or roll.
v.
filed, fil·ing, files
v.
tr.
To put or keep (papers, for example) in useful order for storage or reference.
To enter (a legal document) on public official record.
To send or submit (copy) to a newspaper.
To carry out the first stage of (a lawsuit, for example): filed charges against my associate.
v.
intr.
To march or walk in a line.
To put items in a file.
To make application; apply: filed for a job with the state; file for a divorce.
To enter one's name in a political contest: filed for Congress.
[From Middle English filen, to put documents on file, from Old French filer, to spin thread, to put documents on a thread, from Late Latin fīlāre, to spin, draw out in a long line, from Latin fīlum, thread; see gwhī- in Indo-European roots.]
"to place (papers) in consecutive order for future reference," 1473, from M.Fr. filer "string documents on a wire for preservation or reference," from fil "thread, string," from L. filum "thread," from PIE base *gwhis-lom (cf. Armenian jil "sinew, string, line," Lith. gysla "vein, sinew," O.C.S. zila "vein"). The notion is of documents hung up on a line like drying laundry. Methods have become more sophisticated, but the word has stuck. The noun first attested in Eng. in the military sense, "line or row of men," 1598, from M.Fr. filer in the sense of "spin out (thread), march in file." The noun meaning "arranged collection of papers" is from 1626; computer sense is from 1954.
"metal tool," O.E. feol (Mercian fil), from P.Gmc. *finkhlo (cf. O.H.G. fila, M.Du. vile, Ger. Feile), probably from PIE *pik-/*peik- "cut" (cf. Skt. pimsati "hews out, carves," L. pingere "to paint," O.C.S. pila "file, saw," Lith. pela "file;" see paint). The verb in this sense is from c.1225.
fileAudio Help (fīl) Pronunciation Key
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.
filefile system An element of data storage in a file system. The history of computing is rich in varied kinds of files and file systems, whether ornate like the Macintosh file system or deficient like many simple pre-1980s file systems that didn't have directories. However, a typical file has these characteristics: * It is a single sequence of bytes (but consider Macintoshresource forks). * It has a finite length, unlike, e.g., a Unixdevice. * It is stored in a non-volatile storage medium (but see ramdrive). * It exists (nominally) in a directory. * It has a name that it can be referred to by in file operations, possibly in combination with its path. Additionally, a file system may support other file attributes, such as permissions; timestamps for creation, last modification, and last access and revision numbers (a` la VMS). Compare: document. (2007-01-04)
An*ni"hi*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Annihilated; p. pr. & vb. n. Annihilating.] [L. annihilare; ad + nihilum, nihil, nothing, ne hilum (filum) not a thread, nothing at all. Cf. File, a row.]1. To reduce to nothing or nonexistence; to destroy the existence of; to cause to cease to be. It impossible for any body to be utterly annihilated. --Bacon. 2. To destroy the form or peculiar distinctive properties of, so that the specific thing no longer exists; as, to annihilate a forest by cutting down the trees. "To annihilate the army." --Macaulay. 3. To destroy or eradicate, as a property or attribute of a thing; to make of no effect; to destroy the force, etc., of; as, to annihilate an argument, law, rights, goodness.
De*file"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Defiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Defiling.] [F. d['e]filer; pref. d['e]-, for des- (L. dis-) + file a row or line. See File a row.] To march off in a line, file by file; to file off.
De*file"\, v. t. [OE. defoulen, -foilen, to tread down, OF. defouler; de- + fouler to trample (see Full, v. t.), and OE. defoulen to foul (influenced in form by the older verb defoilen). See File to defile, Foul, Defoul.]1. To make foul or impure; to make filthy; to dirty; to befoul; to pollute. They that touch pitch will be defiled. --Shak. 2. To soil or sully; to tarnish, as reputation; to taint. He is . . . among the greatest prelates of this age, however his character may be defiled by . . . dirty hands. --Swift. 3. To injure in purity of character; to corrupt. Defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt. --Ezek. xx. 7. 4. To corrupt the chastity of; to debauch; to violate. The husband murder'd and the wife defiled. --Prior. 5. To make ceremonially unclean; to pollute. That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile therewith. --Lev. xxii. 8.
En`fi*lade"\ (?; 277), n. [F., fr. enfiler to thread, go trough a street or square, rake with shot; pref. en- (L. in) + fil thread. See File a row.]1. A line or straight passage, or the position of that which lies in a straight line. [R.] 2. (Mil.) A firing in the direction of the length of a trench, or a line of parapet or troops, etc.; a raking fire.
Fil"a*ment\, n. [F. filament, fr. L. filum thread. See File a row.] A thread or threadlike object or appendage; a fiber; esp. (Bot.), the threadlike part of the stamen supporting the anther.
File\ (f[imac]l), n. [F. file row (cf. Pr., Sp., Pg., & It. fila), LL. fila, fr. L. filum a thread. Cf. Enfilade, Filament, Fillet.]1. An orderly succession; a line; a row; as: (a) (Mil) A row of soldiers ranged one behind another; -- in contradistinction to rank, which designates a row of soldiers standing abreast; a number consisting the depth of a body of troops, which, in the ordinary modern formation, consists of two men, the battalion standing two deep, or in two ranks. Note: The number of files in a company describes its width, as the number of ranks does its depth; thus, 100 men in "fours deep" would be spoken of as 25 files in 4 ranks. --Farrow. (b) An orderly collection of papers, arranged in sequence or classified for preservation and reference; as, files of letters or of newspapers; this mail brings English files to the 15th instant. (c) The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers are put and kept in order. It is upon a file with the duke's other letters. --Shak. (d) A roll or list. "A file of all the gentry." --Shak. 2. Course of thought; thread of narration. [Obs.] Let me resume the file of my narration. --Sir H. Wotton. File firing, the act of firing by file, or each file independently of others. File leader, the soldier at the front of any file, who covers and leads those in rear of him. File marching, the marching of a line two deep, when faced to the right or left, so that the front and rear rank march side by side. --Brande & C. Indian file, or Single file, a line of men marching one behind another; a single row. On file, preserved in an orderly collection. Rank and file. (a) The body of soldiers constituing the mass of an army, including corporals and privates. --Wilhelm. (b) Those who constitute the bulk or working members of a party, society, etc., in distinction from the leaders.
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Audio Help [fahyl] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, filed, fil·ing. 
- in Indo-European roots.]
