Etymologically
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fil

Etymology and origin of the French word fil

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1160, Roman d'Eneas
Inherited from
Latin filum
Ultimate origin
Latin (fīlum)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin filum
French fil

Pronunciation

Forms

fil m (plural fils)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fīlum (“thread, filament; edge of a blade; thread of a speech”), of unknown origin.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Cognate with Romanian fir, Italian filo, Occitan fil, Spanish hilo and Portuguese fio.[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman d'Eneas (about 1160) uses it for a thin strand, in fil de l'albe “daybreak”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Chrétien de Troyes has li filz d'or “gold threads” (about 1170) and thread for sewing, fil e aguille (1176–81); de fil en aiguille “one thing leading to another” is in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose (1269–78), and cousu de fil blanc “transparent, obvious” from 1594.[2][3] A thread that holds things gave ne tenir qu'à un fil and fil à plomb (1824).[3][2]

Figurative senses are old: a sequence or chain (le fil des idées, about 1195), the direction of a current (au fil de l'eve, about 1200), and the edge of a blade (Amyot, 1559), as in passer au fil de l'épée.[2][3] The fil d'Ariane (1748) is a guiding thread.[3] With the telegraph (1856) and telephone, fil named the wire, whence coup de fil “phone call”.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1160 – Fil de l'albe, Roman d'Eneas.[2]
  • 1176–81 – Sewing thread, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • c. 1195 – A chain (of events).[2]
  • 1269–78 – De fil en aguille, Jean de Meun.[2]
  • 1559 – The edge of a blade, Amyot.[2]
  • 1748 – Fil d'Ariane.[3]
  • 1856 – Fil télégraphique.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. thread, yarn: fil de coton, une bobine de fil, de fil en aiguille.[6][1]
  2. A wire: fil de fer, fil électrique, sans fil, wireless, coup de fil, phone call.[1][3]
  3. The thread (of a story, of events): perdre le fil, au fil des jours, fil conducteur.[2][1]
  4. The current, flow: au fil de l'eau.[2]
  5. The grain (of wood, fabric).[1]
  6. The edge (of a blade): passer au fil de l'épée.[1][2]

Word family

  • filet
  • filière
  • filin
  • filasse
  • affiler
  • effiler
  • enfiler
  • défiler

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 526b
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Fil.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/fil. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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