Etymologically
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fil

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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