filer French · revision 17170

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1165, Benoît de Sainte-Maure|origins=la fīlum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fi.le/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''filer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|fīlō|t=to draw out into threads; to make flow in a thread]], derived from [[m|la|fīlum|t=thread]] (see [[fil]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|filare]], [[ca|filar]], [[pro|filar]], [[es|hilar]] and [[pt|fiar]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) Littré rejects Jal's view that the nautical “filer” comes from words like [[nl|vieren|t=to veer]]: a metaphor from spinning explains it.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Benoît de Sainte-Maure's ''Roman de Troie'' (about 1165) it is intransitive, “to flow, run”.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Filer doux'' “to give in, obey” (end of the 15th century) alludes to thread unwound gently so as not to break.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) 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).^(TLFi)^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ 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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In slang it has meant “to give” since 1835, probably after ''refiler''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1165 – “To flow”, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1210 – Of a spider spinning, ''Bible Guiot''.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – To spin fibres.^(TLFi)

+ * late 15th century – ''Filer doux''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1754 – “To run off”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1815 – “To tail”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – “To give”, in slang.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1865 – ''Filer une métaphore''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|spin]] (fibres into thread): ''filer la laine''; of a spider or silkworm, to spin: ''l'araignée file sa toile''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(nautical)'' To pay out (a rope or cable); of a ship, to sail at a speed: ''filer dix nœuds''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To develop gradually: ''filer une métaphore'', ''(music)'' to hold a note.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' To [[m|en|tail]], shadow someone.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' To give, slip: ''file-moi cent balles''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' Of a thick liquid, to run in a thread; of a stocking, to ladder.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive, familiar)'' To go fast; to dash off, clear off: ''il faut que je file'', ''filer à l'anglaise'', to take French leave.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Filer doux'': to behave meekly, toe the line.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[filage]]

+ * [[filature]]

+ * [[fileur]]

+ * [[filé]]

+ * [[filandre]]

+ * [[file]]

+ * [[défiler]]

+ * [[refiler]]

+ * [[faufiler]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fil]]

+ * [[enfiler]]

+ * [[la|fīlum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}