filet

Forms

filet m (plural filets)^[1] Old French filet, also fillet.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French fil (“thread”) + -et, a diminutive “little thread”, the base noun being from Latin filum (“thread”).^{[2][4][5][6][7]}

The sense “net” has a separate source: it is an alteration of Old French filé “work made of threads” (13th century), the noun use of the past participle of filer,^[5][6][8] still written so by Monet in 1636, and matching Old Occitan filat.^[5]

Cognate with Occitan filet, Spanish filete and Italian filetto.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marie de France's Fables (about 1180) use it for a thin thread.^[2][6][10]

Semantic evolution

From “thin thread” the word took several technical senses: the fold of membrane under the tongue (about 1290),^[2][6] and later senses in bookbinding and of the thread of a screw (1690).^[6] It also came to mean a thin, steady flow, first of a liquid (1306–1307) and of melted sugar (about 1393),^[2][6] and figuratively un filet de voix (1680).^[6][10]

About 1393 the Ménagier de Paris uses it for the long cut of meat taken along the backbone, a reference to its long shape and perhaps because the piece was often rolled and tied with string;^[2][6] filet mignon appears in 1716–1718.^[10][6] English fillet (early 14th century) was taken from Old French filet, and its sense “cut of meat or fish” dates from the late 14th century.^[11]

From filé, the word came to mean a mesh of threads (1461), especially for catching animals (16th century), and figuratively a trap (1615).^[6] Nets for holding things (1690) and the net of ball games such as tennis (1877) followed.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – Marie de France uses filet for a thin thread.^[2]
• c. 1290 – Walter of Bibbesworth's treatise uses it for the fold under the tongue.^[2]
• 1306–1307 – Guiart uses it of a thin stream of liquid.^[2]
• c. 1393 – The Ménagier de Paris uses it for a cut of meat.^[2][6]
• 1461 – First recorded sense “mesh of threads”.^[6]
• 1615 – Figurative use of the net as a trap.^[6]
• 1680 – Richelet records un filet de voix.^[10]
• 1718 – Filet mignon is recorded.^[6]
• 1877 – First used for the tennis net.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thin thread or thread-like line: un filet d'argent dans ses cheveux.^[2][10]
2. A thin, steady stream: un filet d'eau, un filet de voix.^[10][6]
3. (anatomy) A fine nerve or muscle fibre, and the frenulum of the tongue.^[2][1]
4. (typography) A rule, and in architecture a listel.^[1]
5. The thread of a screw.^[6]
6. A fillet of meat taken along the backbone: filet de bœuf, faux-filet, filet mignon.^[8][10]
7. A fillet of fish cut from either side of the backbone: lever les filets d'une truite.^[8]
8. A net for catching fish, birds or other animals: filet de pêche, filet à papillons.^[8][1]
9. (figurative) A trap: attirer quelqu'un dans ses filets.^[6]
10. A net for holding or carrying things, such as a string bag for shopping.^[6][1]
11. (sports) The net in tennis and other ball games.^[6][1]

Word family

• faux-filet
• entrefilet
• fileter
• fileyeur

Related words

• fil
• filer
• Latin filum
• English fillet

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 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique 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, 527b
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com