défilé

Forms

défilé m (plural défilés)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French défiler² (“to march in file”), whose past participle is used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] The verb (1648) is formed on file (“row, line”), itself from Latin fīlum (“thread”),^[6] and the prefix dé-,^[3][5][6] which the Petit Robert and Wiktionary analyse as filer with the same prefix.^[7][1] It is distinct from the older verb meaning “to unthread”, formed on fil (“thread”).^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rotrou's Bélisaire (1643) has it for a narrow pass through which one can only go in single file: Dans ses longs défilés aura porté ses pas “will have made his way into its long passes”.^[2][8] The TLFi marks this first record as doubtful and gives d'Ablancourt (1648) as the next.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Montesquieu used the narrow pass figuratively in 1721.^[2][8] From 1669 the word also named the action of marching one by one through a narrow passage,^[2][5] and the military manoeuvre of troops marching past in column is recorded from 1827.^[2] In the convict slang of 1830 the feminine défilée meant the prisoners' departure for work.^[2] In 1842 Balzac used it figuratively for a succession of things, and it later came to mean any procession of people or vehicles in file, such as a protest march or a fashion show.^[2][5][7]

English took defile “narrow pass” from it in the 1640s, mainly as a military term.^[6]

Timeline

• 1643 – Rotrou uses it for a narrow pass.^[2][4]
• 1640s – English borrows it as defile.^[6]
• 1648 – D'Ablancourt uses it for a narrow pass.^[2]
• 1669 – Widerhold's dictionary gives the sense “marching one by one through a narrow passage”.^[2]
• 1721 – Montesquieu uses it figuratively.^[2]
• 1827 – Delécluze writes of le défilé des troupes.^[2]
• 1830 – Convict slang has défilée “departure for work”.^[2]
• 1842 – Balzac uses it for a succession of things.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A narrow natural passage between heights, through which one can only pass in file; a gorge, a defile.^[7][2][9]
2. A military parade of troops marching past in column.^[7][9][1]
3. A procession of people or vehicles in file or in rows; a march, as in a protest.^[7][9][1]
4. A fashion show; short for défilé de mode.^[1][7]
5. (figurative) An uninterrupted succession of people or things: un défilé de clients.^[7][9][5]

Related words

• défiler²
• file
• filer
• English defile

Usage notes

Littré has a separate défilé, from the verb meaning “to unthread”, for a mass of rags that have been unthreaded.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)