Etymologically
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filum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfiː.ɫũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfiː.lum][1]

Forms

fīlum n (genitive fīlī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fī(s)lo-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo- (“sinew, sinew thread”).[2] Cognate with Lithuanian gýsla (“vein, sinew”), Old Church Slavonic жила (žila, “vein”), Armenian ջիլ (ǰil, “sinew”) and Welsh gïau (“sinews”), and with an unenlarged root in Sanskrit ज्या (jyā́, “bowstring”) and Ancient Greek βιός (biós, “bow, bowstring”).[2][1] The Oxford Latin Dictionary calls the origin doubtful.[3] Lewis & Short and Georges connected it with fīgō or fingō.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a single thread of yarn, a cord or string, and the thread of life spun by the Fates.[3][7] Fīlō pendēre was to hang by a thread.[3][7] It was Theseus' thread in the Labyrinth, the wick of a candle, the strings of a lyre, a woollen fillet worn by priests, a spider's thread, and any fine thread-like thing, such as a plant fibre.[3] Figuratively it was the texture or style of a speech, and the build of a person.[2][1]

In medieval Latin it was also the current of a river and a row.[8] It survives as Italian filo, French fil, Spanish hilo and Portuguese fio.[1] Through French file “row” it gave English file.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro calls the thread the smallest part of a garment.[3][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of the threads of the three sisters, the Fates.[7][6]
  • mid-15th century – English file “arrange papers” is recorded, from French, from the practice of stringing papers on a thread.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A thread, fīlō pendēre, to hang by a thread.[3][4]
  2. The thread of life spun by the Fates.[3]
  3. A cord, string; the wick of a candle; the strings of a lyre.[3][1]
  4. A thread spun by a spider or silkworm.[3]
  5. A thread-like part of a plant; a fibre.[3]
  6. The texture or style (of speech); the build (of a person).[2][1]
  7. (Medieval Latin) The current of a river; a row.[8]

Word family

  • bifilum
  • fīlāmentum
  • fīlō
  • trifīlis
  • fūnis
  • English file
  • English filament

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com