English → Latin
“file” in Latin
fīlumthread, string, filament, fiber; texture, style, nature; wick of a lamplīnumflax; linen cloth; garment made of linen; rope, line, string, thread, cord, cableōrdōa methodical series, arrangement, or order; regular line, row, or series; a class, station, condition, rank; a group or indexA pointer, indicator.; The index finger, forefinger.; An index, list, catalogue, table, summary, digest.numerusnumber; Roman military unit; collection, quantitylīmōto sharpen; to file, file off; to polish, finishperpoliōto polish thoroughly; to put finishing touches toresticulacord, line (thin rope)scobīnaa rasp
The English word file itself goes back to Latin fīlum.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
file s.
A thread, filum: linum. [Vid: THREAD.]
Papers filed on a string. (The Romans, for that purpose, used the “scapus “[a sort of rolling-pin] to collect or wrap papers round, which latter was called “volumen”).
A line of troops, ordo. Rank and file, milites gregarii (but only in a depreciating sense; as milites alone = “common soldiers;” opposed to officers).
List of soldiers, etc., index (general term for catalogue): numeri (of soldiers; for which matricula was used late in time of emperors, Torrent., Suet., Vesp. 6).
A mechanical instrument, lima; to rub or smooth with a file, lima persequi: perpolire.
file v.
To put on a string, inserere lino (e.g., pearls; Tert., Hub. Mul., 9, “margaritas inserere lino”): resticulam or resticulas perserere per etc. (to run a string through anything, in order to suspend the object afterward by it; e.g., resticulas per ficos maturas perserere, Varr., R.R., 1, 41, 5).
To file a bill in a court of justice, [Vid: “bring an ACTION”].
To rub down with a file [Vid. FILE, substantive].
To file off, delimare (if with af, lima): descobinare (if with a rasp, scobina): also lima polire, PROP. and IMPROP.
file v.
INTRANS., perhaps in acie procedere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for file?
- The usual Latin words for “file” are fīlum, līnum, ōrdō; also index, numerus, līmō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.