filter English · revision 6221

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=gmw-pro *filtī}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfɪltə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfɪltɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English filtre, [[bor|fro|filtre]], a variant of feltre, felt,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) and directly [[m|la-med|filtrum|t=felt used to strain liquids]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) from a West Germanic word related to [[felt]]: compare [[osx|filt|t=felt]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A piece of felt, especially for straining liquids: about 1400 in the OED,^(OED 1989) before 1425 in Barnhart, in a translation of Chauliac's ''Grande Chirurgie'',^(Barnhart 1988) the early 15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Felt, paper or other material through which liquid is passed to clean it is from 1563,^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) and any device for this from 1791.^(OED 1989) The figurative use is from about 1600.^(Etymonline) Devices against dust or germs in the air are from 1874; in photography a screen that cuts out certain rays is from 1900;^(OED 1989) a cigarette filter is from 1908;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and in electronics a circuit that passes only certain frequencies is from 1920.^(OED 1989) The verb, to pass a liquid through a filter, is from 1576,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) possibly from French [[m|frm|filtrer]] or New Latin filtrare;^(Barnhart 1988) its intransitive use, to pass slowly through, is from 1798 and the figurative sense from 1830.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – felt.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1563 – a material for straining liquids.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1576 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1874 – an air filter.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1900 – a photographic filter.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1908 – a cigarette filter.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1920 – an electronic filter.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[porous]] material through which a liquid or gas is passed to remove [[particle|alt=particles]], or a device containing it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A device that blocks certain [[frequency|alt=frequencies]] of sound, light or electric signal.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A pad at the end of a [[cigarette]] that absorbs impurities.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(computing)'' A program or rule that screens out unwanted data or messages.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To pass a liquid or gas through a filter, or remove something by doing so.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To pass or spread slowly, as if through a filter: ''news filtered out''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[filterer]]

+ * [[filterless]]

+ * [[filtrate]]

+ * [[nonfilter]]

+ * [[overfilter]]

+ * [[refilter]]

+ * [[filterable]]

+ * [[prefilter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[filtration]]

+ * [[felt]]

+ * [[infiltrate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}