file Italian · revision 39246

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1969|origins=frm fil}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈfa.il/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''file''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|en|file]], recorded in Italian from 1969 (Zingarelli) or 1972 (GRADIT, Devoto–Oli).^(Zingarelli 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary) The English word first meant a [[filza]], the wire or string on which papers were threaded to keep them, and so a dossier or archive.^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020) It comes from [[frm|fil|t=thread]], and Treccani sees a crossing with [[m|frm|file|t=row]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word appears around 1970 in computing, for a set of related data, commands or information stored under one name in a computer's memory.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The GDLI quotes ''Le Scienze'' of August 1974 on “the protection and saving of files”, with the English plural.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The plural is either invariable or the English ''files''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI) Devoto–Oli and Nocentini also record a bureaucratic sense, a folder holding the papers of a case.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Nocentini 2010) Compounds such as ''file server'' and ''file system'' came with the technology, and ''file sharing'' with computer networks.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1969 – Zingarelli's date for ''file''.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * 1972 – GRADIT's and Devoto–Oli's date.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ * 1974 – ''Le Scienze'' writes of saving ''files''.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(computing)'' A [[m|en|file]]: a set of data stored under a name in a computer's memory or on a disk: ''Ho salvato la lettera in un file nuovo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(bureaucracy)'' A [[m|en|folder]] holding the papers of a case.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[filza]]

+ * [[filo]]

+ * [[fila]]

+ * [[en|file]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The same spelling is the plural of [[fila]] “row, line”.^(Wiktionary)^(Wikizionario) A rare learned feminine ''file'', stressed on the first syllable, names each of the tribes of ancient Greece; it comes from [[grc|φυλή|tr=phulḗ|t=tribe]] and is recorded before 1748 in Pietro Giannone.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI|5, 703)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}