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defile [defile 词源字典]: defile: Defile ‘make dirty’ [14] and defile ‘narrow pass’ [17] are distinct words in English. The former has a rather complex history. It was originally acquired in the 13th century as defoul, borrowed from Old French defouler ‘trample down, injure’; this was a compound verb formed from the prefix de- ‘down’ and fouler ‘tread’, which in turn goes back via Vulgar Latin *fullāre to Latin fullō ‘person who cleans and thickens cloth by stamping on it’, source of English fuller [OE].

In the 14th century defoul started to turn into defile under the influence of the synonymous (and now obsolete) befile [OE], a compound verb derived ultimately from the adjective foul. Defile ‘narrow pass’ was borrowed from French défilé, originally the past participle of défiler, a compound verb based on filer ‘march in a column’ (which is a close relative of English file).
=> fuller; file[defile etymology, defile origin, 英语词源]
filbert: filbert: [14] Hazelnuts begin to ripen around the end of August, and so in medieval times they were named after Saint Philibert, a 7th-century Frankish abbot whose feast day falls on the 22nd of that month. Thus in Anglo-Norman they were *noix de Philibert or noix de filbert – whence English filbert.
file: file: The file for smoothing and rubbing [OE] and the file for storing things in [16] are quite different words. The former comes from a prehistoric Germanic *fikhalā (source also of German feile and Dutch vijl), which goes back ultimately to Indo-European *pik-, *peik-, denoting ‘cut’. The latter, on the other hand, comes from Old French fil, a descendant of Latin filum ‘thread’, which was applied to a piece of string or wire suspended from two points and used for hanging documents and records on for easy reference.

As methods of document storage and retrieval became more sophisticated, the word file followed them. The later file ‘(military) column’, first recorded at the end of the 16th century, probably represents a reborrowing from French, but it is ultimately the same word. Fillet [14] originated as a diminutive form of Latin filum.
=> filigree, fillet
filial: filial: see female
filibuster: filibuster: [16] Filibuster and freebooter [16] are doublets: that is to say, they come from the same ultimate source, but have subsequently diverged. Freebooter ‘pirate’ was borrowed from Dutch vrijbuiter, a compound formed from vrij ‘free’ and buiter ‘plunderer’ (this was a derivative of buit ‘loot’, to which English booty is related).

But English was not the only language to adopt it; French wanted it too, but mangled it somewhat in the borrowing, to flibustier. It was then handed on to Spanish, as filibustero. It is not clear where the 16th-century English use of the word with an l spelling rather than an r spelling (which is recorded in only one text) comes from. The French form flibustier was borrowed towards the end of the 18th century, and presentday filibuster came from the Spanish form in the mid-19th century.

The use of the term for ‘obstructing a legislature with an overlong speech’ (which has now virtually obliterated its former semantic equivalence to freebooter) originated in the USA in the 1880s.
=> booty, free, freebooter
filigree: filigree: [17] Etymologically, filigree describes very accurately how filigree was originally made: it was delicate ornamental work constructed from threads (Latin filum) and beads (Latin grānum ‘grain, seed’). The Italian descendants of these two Latin words were combined to form filigrana, which passed into English via French as filigrane. This gradually metamorphosed through filigreen to filigree.
=> file, grain
fill: fill: [OE] Fill originated in prehistoric Germanic times as a derivative of the adjective *fullaz ‘full’, source of modern English full. This was *fulljan, which produced German füllen, Dutch vullen, Swedish fylla, Danish fylde, and English fill.
=> full
fillet: fillet: see file
filly: filly: see foal
film: film: [OE] The notion underlying film is of a thin ‘skin’. The word comes ultimately from a prehistoric Germanic *fellam, which was related to Latin pellis ‘skin’ (source of English pelt ‘skin’). From this was derived *filminjam, which produced Old English filmen, a word used for various sorts of anatomical membrane or thin skin, including the peritoneum and the foreskin of the penis.

It was generalized from the late 16th century to any thin membrane, and was applied by early 19th-century photographers to a thin layer of gel spread on photographic plates (‘The film of isinglass … peels off and will be found to bear a minute copy of the original’, William Thornthwaite, Guide to Photography 1845). As photographic technique moved on to cellulose coated with photosensitive emulsion, it took the term film with it.
=> pelt
filter: filter: [14] Ultimately, filter is the same word as felt – and indeed that is what it first meant in English (‘They dwell all in tents made of black filter’, John Mandeville, Travels 1400). It comes via Old French filtre from medieval Latin filtrum, which was borrowed from prehistoric West Germanic *filtiz, source of English felt. The modern sense of filter did not develop until the 17th century; it came from the use of felt for removing impurities from liquid. The derivative infiltrate dates from the 18th century. (The homophonic philtre [16] is not related; it comes ultimately from Greek phílos ‘beloved’.)
=> felt, infiltrate
filth: filth: see foul
profile: profile: [17] The -file of profile is etymologically a ‘thread’. The word comes from early modern Italian profilo, a derivative of profilare ‘draw in outline’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix pro- ‘forward’ and filare, which used to mean ‘draw a line’; and this in turn went back to Latin filāre ‘spin’, a derivative of filum ‘thread’ (from which English gets file for storing things in).
=> file
affiliate (adj.): 1858, from affiliate (v.).
affiliate (n.): 1846, from affiliate (v.).
affiliate (v.): 1761, from Latin affiliatus, past participle of affiliare "to adopt" (see affiliation). Outside legal use, always figurative. Related: Affiliated; affiliating.
affiliation (n.): 1751, "adoption," from French affiliation, from Medieval Latin affiliationem (nominative affiliatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin affiliare "to adopt a son," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + filius "son" (see filial). Figurative sense of "adoption by a society, of branches" first recorded 1799 (the verb affiliate in this sense is from 1761).
backfill (n.): 1901 (as backfilling), from back (adj.) + fill (n.). The verb was in use by 1930.
defilade (n.): 1828, from defile (n.) + -ade.
defile (v.): c. 1400, "to desecrate, profane;" mid-15c., "to make foul or dirty," alteration of earlier defoulen, from Old French defouler "trample down, violate," also "ill-treat, dishonor," from de- "down" (see de-) + foler "to tread," from Latin fullo "person who cleans and thickens cloth by stamping on it" (see foil (v.)).

The alteration (or re-formation) in English is from influence of Middle English filen (v.) "to render foul; make unclean or impure," literal and figurative, from Old English fylen (trans.), related to Old English fulian (intrans.) "to become foul, rot," from the source of foul (adj.). Compare befoul, which also had a parallel form befilen. Related: Defiled; defiling.
defile (n.): "narrow passage," 1640s, especially in a military sense, "a narrow passage down which troops can march only in single file," from French défilé, noun use of past participle of défiler "march by files" (17c.), from de- "off" (see de-) + file "row," from Latin filum "thread" (see file (v.1)). The verb in this sense is 1705, from French défiler.
defilement (n.): 1570s, from defile (v.) + -ment.
enfilade (n.): 1706, a string of things in a straight line, from French enfilade, from Old French enfiler (13c.) "to thread (a needle) on a string; pierce from end to end," from en- "put on" (see en- (1)) + fil "thread" (see file (v.1)). Used of rows of apartments and lines of trees before military sense came to predominate: "a firing with a straight passage down ranks of men, channels in fortifications, etc." (1796). As a verb from 1706 in the military sense, "rake with shot through the full length." Related: Enfiladed; enfilading. The Old French verb was borrowed in Middle English as enfile "to put (something) on a thread or string."
filament (n.): "fine untwisted thread, separate fibril," 1590s, from Modern Latin filamentum, from Late Latin filare "to spin, draw out in a long line," from Latin filum "thread" (see file (v.1)). As the name of the incandescent element in a light-bulb, from 1881.
filbert (n.): "hazelnut," late 14c., from Anglo-French philber (late 13c.), from Norman dialect noix de filbert, in reference to St. Philbert, 7c. Frankish abbot, so called because the hazel nuts ripen near his feast day, Aug. 22 (Old Style). Weekley compares German Lambertsnuss "filbert," associated with St. Lambert (Sept. 17); also German Johannisbeere "red currant," associated with St. John's Day (June 24). The saint's name is Old High German Filu-berht, literally "very bright."
filch (v.): "steal," especially in a small, sly way, 1560s, slang, perhaps from c. 1300 filchen "to snatch, take as booty," which is of unknown origin. Liberman says filch probably is from German filzen "comb through." Related: Filched; filching.
filcher (n.): 1570s, agent noun from filch.
file (v.1): "place (papers) in consecutive order for future reference," mid-15c., from Old French filer "string documents on a thread or wire for preservation or reference" (15c.), earlier "to spin thread," from fil "thread, string" (12c.), from Latin filum "a thread, string; thread of fate; cord, filament," from PIE *gwhis-lom (cognates: Armenian jil "sinew, string, line," Lithuanian gysla "vein, sinew," Old Church Slavonic zila "vein"), from root *gwhi- "thread, tendon." The notion is of documents hung up on a line in consecutive order for ease of reference.
File (filacium) is a threed or wyer, whereon writs, or other exhibits in courts, are fastened for the better keeping of them. [Cowel, "The Interpreter," 1607]
Methods have become more sophisticated, but the word has stuck. Meaning "place among the records of a court or office" is from 1510s; of newspaper reporters sending in stories, 1954. Intransitive sense "march in a line (as soldiers do) one after another" is from 1610s. Related: Filed; filing.
file (n.2): metal tool for abrading or smoothing, Old English feol (Mercian fil) "file," from Proto-Germanic *fihalo "cutting tool" (cognates: Old Saxon fila, Old High German fila, Middle Dutch vile, Dutch vijl, German Feile), probably from PIE *peig- (1) "to cut, mark by incision" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic pila "file, saw," Lithuanian pela "file;" see paint (v.)). Century Dictionary (1906) lists 60 named varieties of them.
file (n.1): 1520s, "string or wire on which documents are strung," from French file "a row" (15c.), noun derived from Middle French filer "string documents; spin thread" (see file (v.1)). The literal sense explains why from the beginning until recently things were generally on file (or upon file). The meaning "collection of papers systematically arranged for ready reference" is from 1620s; computer sense is from 1954. The sense "row of persons or things one behind another" (1590s) is originally military, from the French verb in the sense of "march in file." Meaning "line of squares on a chessboard running directly from player to player" is from 1610s.
file (v.2): "to smooth or abrade with a file," early 13c., from Old English filian, from the source of file (n.2). Related: Filed; filing.
filet (n.): 1841 in cookery, reborrowing from French of the same word that had been taken 14c. and anglicized as fillet (q.v.). Filet mignon is attested as a French word in English from 1815.
The 'Chateaubriand,' the 'entrecôte,' and the 'filet mignon' (of mutton), with other forms, are all due to the more enlarged sympathies of the French butcher for what is perfect. We must entirely change the mode of cutting up the carcase before we can arrive at the same perfection in form of meat purchasable, and as that is hopeless, so is it useless to insist further on the subject on behalf of the public. ["The Kitchen and the Cellar," "Quarterly Review," April 1877]
filial (adj.): late 14c., from Late Latin filialis "of a son or daughter," from Latin filius "son," filia "daughter," possibly from a suffixed form of PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow" (see be), though *dhe(i)- "to suck, suckle" (see fecund) "is more likely" [Watkins].
filiation (n.): 1520s, "process of becoming, or state of being, a son," from French filiation, from Medieval Latin filiationem (nominative filiatio), noun of action from past participle stem of filiare "to have a child," from Latin filius/filia "son/daughter" (see filial). As "relationship of a son or daughter to a parent" (correlative of paternity) from 1794.
filibuster (n.): 1580s, flibutor "pirate," especially, in history, "West Indian buccaneer of the 17th century" (mainly French, Dutch, and English adventurers), probably ultimately from Dutch vrijbueter (now vrijbuiter) "freebooter," a word which was used of pirates in the West Indies in Spanish (filibustero) and French (flibustier, earlier fribustier) forms. See freebooter.

According to Century Dictionary, the spread of the word is owing to a Dutch work ("De Americaensche Zee-Roovers," 1678) "written by a bucaneer named John Oexmelin, otherwise Exquemelin or Esquemeling, and translated into French and Spanish, and subsequently into English (1684)." Spanish inserted the -i- in the first syllable; French is responsible for the -s-, inserted but not originally pronounced, "a common fact in 17th century F[rench], after the analogy of words in which an original s was retained in spelling, though it had become silent in pronunciation" [Century Dictionary].

In American English, from 1851 in reference to lawless military adventurers from the U.S. who tried to overthrow Central American governments. The major expeditions were those of Narciso Lopez of New Orleans against Cuba (1850-51) and by William Walker of California against the Mexican state of Sonora (1853-54) and against Nicaragua (1855-58).
FILIBUSTERING is a term lately imported from the Spanish, yet destined, it would seem, to occupy an important place in our vocabulary. In its etymological import it is nearly synonymous with piracy. It is commonly employed, however, to denote an idea peculiar to the modern progress, and which may be defined as the right and practice of private war, or the claim of individuals to engage in foreign hostilities aside from, and even in opposition to the government with which they are in political membership. ["Harper's New Monthly Magazine," January 1853]
The noun in the legislative sense is not in Bartlett (1859) and seems not to have been in use in U.S. legislative writing before 1865 (filibustering in this sense is from 1861). Probably the extension in sense is because obstructionist legislators "pirated" debate or overthrew the usual order of authority. Originally of the senator who led it; the maneuver itself so called by 1893. Not technically restricted to U.S. Senate, but that's where the strategy works best. [The 1853 use of filibustering by U.S. Rep. Albert G. Brown of Mississippi reported in the "Congressional Globe" and cited in the OED does not refer to legislative obstruction, merely to national policy toward Cuba.]
filibuster (v.): 1853 in the freebooting sense, from filibuster (n.). Legislative sense is from 1861. Related: Filibustered; filibustering.
filicide (n.): 1660s, "action of killing a son or daughter," from Latin filius/filia "son/daughter" (see filial) + -cide. Meaning "one who kills a son or daughter" is from 1823. Related: Filicidal.
filigree (n.): 1690s, shortening of filigreen (1660s), from French filigrane "filigree" (17c.), from Italian filigrana, from Latin filum "thread, wire" (see file (v.1)) + granum "grain" (see corn (n.1)). Related: Filigreed.
filing (n.): 1712, verbal noun from file (v.1). Filing cabinet is from 1883.
filioque: Latin, "and from the son," from ablative of filius "son" (see filial). "Clause in Nicene Creed which separates Eastern Church from Western" [Weekley].
filipendulous (adj.): "hanging by a thread," 1864, as if from Latin filum "thread" (see file (v.1)) + pendulus "hanging down" (see pendulous).
Filipino (n.): 1898 (fem. Filipina), Spanish, from las Islas Filipinas "the Philippine Islands" (see Philippines).
fill (v.): Old English fyllan "to fill, make full, fill up, replenish, satisfy; complete, fulfill," from Proto-Germanic *fulljan "to fill" (cognates: Old Saxon fulljan, Old Norse fylla, Old Frisian fella, Dutch vullen, German füllen, Gothic fulljan "to fill, make full"), a derivative of adjective *fullaz "full" (see full (adj.)). Related: Filled.

To fill the bill (1882) originally was U.S. theatrical slang, in reference to a star of such magnitude his or her name would be the only one on a show's poster. To fill out "write in required matter" is recorded from 1880.
fill (n.): mid-13c., fille, "a full supply," from Old English fyllu "fullness, 'fill,' feast, satiety," from Proto-Germanic *full-ino- "fullness" (cognates: Old High German fulli, German Fülle, Old Norse fyllr), noun of state from *fullaz "full" (see full (adj.)). Meaning "extra material in music" is from 1934.
fill-in (n.): "substitute," 1918 (as an adjective, 1916), from verbal phrase; see fill (v.), in (adv.). Earlier as a noun was fill-up (1811).
filler (n.): late 15c., "one who fills," agent noun from fill (v.). Meaning "something used to fill" is from 1590s. Specifically of food products by 1901.
fillet (n.): early 14c., "little headband," from Old French filet "thread, filament; strip, ligament" (12c.), diminutive of fil "thread" (see file (v.1)). Sense of "cut of meat or fish" is from late 14c., apparently so called because it was prepared by being tied up with a string.
fillet (v.): c. 1600, "to bind with a narrow band," from fillet (n.). Meaning "to cut in fillets" is from 1846. Related: Filleted; filleting.
filling (adj.): "calculated to fill or satisfy," 1620s, present-participle adjective from fill (v.).
filling (n.): c. 1400, "that which fills or fills up," verbal noun from fill (v.). Dentistry sense is from 1848. Filling station attested by 1915.