filer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fi.le/^[1]

Forms

filer^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin fīlō (“to draw out into threads; to make flow in a thread”), derived from fīlum (“thread”) (see fil).^{[2][3][4][5][1]}

Cognate with Italian filare, Catalan filar, Old Occitan filar, Spanish hilar and Portuguese fiar.^[4][6] Littré rejects Jal's view that the nautical “filer” comes from words like Dutch vieren (“to veer”): a metaphor from spinning explains it.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1165) it is intransitive, “to flow, run”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

“To spin” fibres into thread appears in the 13th century, of a spider or silkworm secreting a thread about 1210, and of drawing metal into wire in 1759.^[2][3] Filer doux “to give in, obey” (end of the 15th century) alludes to thread unwound gently so as not to break.^[3][4] From the image of unwinding came “to pay out” a cable (before 1560), “to reel off” words (1559), filer des sons (1811), filer un roman (Diderot, 1773) and filer une métaphore (1865).^[2][9][3]

From unwinding, and, from the speed of a ship, came the familiar “to run off” (1754, first in slang), of things “to disappear quickly” (Flaubert, 1857), “to go straight ahead fast” (Buffon, 1783), and “to tail someone” (1815), whence filature in that sense.^[2][3][4] In slang it has meant “to give” since 1835, probably after refiler.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – “To flow”, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[2]
• c. 1210 – Of a spider spinning, Bible Guiot.^[2]
• 13th century – To spin fibres.^[2]
• late 15th century – Filer doux.^[3]
• 1754 – “To run off”.^[2]
• 1815 – “To tail”.^[2]
• 1835 – “To give”, in slang.^[3]
• 1865 – Filer une métaphore.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To spin (fibres into thread): filer la laine; of a spider or silkworm, to spin: l'araignée file sa toile.^[8][1]
2. (nautical) To pay out (a rope or cable); of a ship, to sail at a speed: filer dix nœuds.^[2][1]
3. To develop gradually: filer une métaphore, (music) to hold a note.^[3][2]
4. (familiar) To tail, shadow someone.^[1][2]
5. (familiar) To give, slip: file-moi cent balles.^[1][3]
6. (intransitive) Of a thick liquid, to run in a thread; of a stocking, to ladder.^[10][1]
7. (intransitive, familiar) To go fast; to dash off, clear off: il faut que je file, filer à l'anglaise, to take French leave.^[1][2]
8. Filer doux: to behave meekly, toe the line.^[8][11]

Word family

• filage
• filature
• fileur
• filé
• filandre
• file
• défiler
• refiler
• faufiler

Related words

• fil
• enfiler
• Latin fīlum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse