Etymologically
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filter

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈfɪltə/ (UK); /ˈfɪltɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English filtre, borrowed from Old French filtre, a variant of feltre, felt,[2][3][4] and directly filtrum (“felt used to strain liquids”),[5][6][2] from a West Germanic word related to felt: compare Old Saxon filt (“felt”).[5][6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of felt, especially for straining liquids: about 1400 in the OED,[7] before 1425 in Barnhart, in a translation of Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie,[5] the early 15th century in Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

Felt, paper or other material through which liquid is passed to clean it is from 1563,[7][6] and any device for this from 1791.[7] The figurative use is from about 1600.[2] Devices against dust or germs in the air are from 1874; in photography a screen that cuts out certain rays is from 1900;[7] a cigarette filter is from 1908;[7][2] and in electronics a circuit that passes only certain frequencies is from 1920.[7] The verb, to pass a liquid through a filter, is from 1576,[5][7][6] possibly from French filtrer or New Latin filtrare;[5] its intransitive use, to pass slowly through, is from 1798 and the figurative sense from 1830.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – felt.[7]
  • 1563 – a material for straining liquids.[7][6]
  • 1576 – the verb.[5][7]
  • 1874 – an air filter.[7]
  • 1900 – a photographic filter.[7]
  • 1908 – a cigarette filter.[7][2]
  • 1920 – an electronic filter.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A porous material through which a liquid or gas is passed to remove particles, or a device containing it.
  2. A device that blocks certain frequencies of sound, light or electric signal.
  3. A pad at the end of a cigarette that absorbs impurities.
  4. (computing) A program or rule that screens out unwanted data or messages.

Verb

  1. To pass a liquid or gas through a filter, or remove something by doing so.
  2. To pass or spread slowly, as if through a filter: news filtered out.

Word family

  • filterer
  • filterless
  • filtrate
  • nonfilter
  • overfilter
  • refilter
  • filterable
  • prefilter
  • filtration
  • felt
  • infiltrate

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press