Dictionary

defile en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

/ˈdiˌfaɪl/ (General-American)
/dəˈfaɪl/ (General-American)
/ˈdiː-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Southern-England) audio
/dɪˈfaɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Late Middle English defilen (“to make dirty, befoul; rape; abuse; destroy; injure; oppress”) [and other forms], a variant of defoulen (“to make dirty, defile, pollute; have sexual intercourse with; rape; etc.”) (compare also defoilen). Defoulen is a blend of Middle English foulen (“to make dirty, soil, pollute”) (from the adjective foul (“dirty, rotten, stinking, corrupt, sinful, guilty”) and Old English fūlian (“to decay”)), and Old French defoler, defouler (“to trample, crush; destroy”), from de- (intensifying prefix) + foler, fouler, fuller (“to trample, tread on; mistreat, oppress, destroy”) (from Vulgar Latin fullāre (“to full (make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating, and pressing)”), from Latin fullō (“person who fulls cloth, fuller”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to blow; to inflate, swell; to bloom, flower”) or Etruscan 𐌘𐌖𐌋𐌖 (φulu)). The English word is analysable as de- + file (“to corrupt; defile”). The Middle English word defilen was probably formed from defoulen on the analogy of befilen (“to make dirty, befoul; corrupt; violate one's chastity; desecrate; slander”) and befoulen (“to make dirty, befoul; violate one's chastity; vilify”), respectively from Old English befȳlan (“to befoul, pollute, defile, make filthy”) (compare also Middle English filen (“to make foul, impure, or unclean, pollute; pollute morally or spiritually; desecrate, profane; have sexual intercourse with; rape; etc.”)) and foulen (“to make dirty, pollute; become dirty; defecate; deface or deform; pollute morally or spiritually; damage, injure; destroy; treat unfairly, oppress; tread on, trample”). Filen and foulen are respectively from Old English fȳlan (“to befoul, defile, pollute”) and Old English fūlian (“to foul”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūlijan (“to make dirty, befoul”) and *fūlēn (“to become foul, decay”), both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“dirty, foul; rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“foul; rotten”). See foul. Cognates * German Low German befulen (“to defile, sully”) * Dutch bevuilen (“to defile, soil”) * Scots befile (“to befoul, dirty”) * West Frisian befûjle (“to soil”)

Meanings

(transitive) To make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean; to befoul, to soil.
- “That's only dirt—it will brush off.” But he looked at me with his haggard hopeless eyes and said— “It is mud. Black, slimy, horrible mud. I am defiled.” 1911 October, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Journey”, in The Forerunner: A Monthly Magazine, volume II, number 10, New York, N.Y.: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, →OCLC, page 271, column 1:
- Spain might now boast that the stain of heresy no longer defiled the hem of her garment. But at what a price was this purchased! 1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, “Protestantism in Spain”, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, book II, page 446:
- At mankind's feast, I take my place / In solemn, sanctimonious state, / And have the air of saying grace / While I defile the dinner plate. 1887, Robert Louis Stevenson, “A Portrait”, in Underwoods, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, book I (In English), page 63:
- […] It is an euil birde that defiles his owne neſt, […] 1549 April 22 (Gregorian calendar), Hughe Latymer [i.e., Hugh Latimer], Augustine Bernher, compiler, “[27 Sermons Preached by the Ryght Reuerende Father in God and Constant Matir of Iesus Christe, Maister Hugh Latimer, […].] The Syxte Sermon of Maister Hugh Latymer, whiche He Preached before K. Edward [VI], the XII. Day of Aprill.”, in Certayn Godly Sermons, Made uppon the Lords Prayer, […], London: […] John Day, […], published 1562, →OCLC, folio 71, verso:
- I have ſowed ſackcloth vpon my ſkin, and defiled my horne in the duſt. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 16:15, column 1:
(transitive) To make (someone or something) morally impure or unclean; to corrupt, to tarnish.
- [T]here is no thynge with outt a man that can diffyle hym when hitt entreth in to hym⸝ but thoo thyngꝭ [things] which procede out of a mã [man] are thoſe which defyle a mã. 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Marke vij:[15], folio liiij, recto:
- Chr[istian]. VVhy, I tro you did not conſent to her deſires? / Faith[full]. No, not to defile my ſelf; for I remembred an old vvriting that I had ſeen, vvhich ſaith, Her ſteps take hold of Hell. [Proverbs 5:5] So I ſhut mine eyes, becauſe I vvould not be bevvitched with her looks: [Job 31:1] then ſhe railed on me, and I vvent my vvay. 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, pages 89–90:
(transitive) To act inappropriately towards or vandalize (something sacred or special); to desecrate, to profane.
- Remember them, O my God, becauſe they haue defiled the Prieſthood, and the couenant of the Prieſthood, and of the Leuites. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Nehemiah 13:29, column 2:
- To urinate on someone’s grave is an example of a way to defile it.
- The vote in the Bundestag (parliament) on Thursday makes defiling foreign flags equal to the crime of defiling the German flag. 2020 May 15, “Burning EU and other flags can now bring German jail term”, in BBC, archived from the original on 04 Jun 2025:
- And all yͤ chiefe amonge the preſtes, and the people, multiplyed their ſynnes, acordinge to all the abhominacions of the Heythen, and dyfyled the houſe of the LORDE, which he had ſanctified at Jeruſalem. 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, II. Cronicles xxxvj:[14], folio cvi, verso, column 1:
(transitive) To cause (something or someone) to become ritually unclean.
- That which dieth of it ſelfe, or is torne with beaſts, hee ſhall not eate to defile himſelfe therewith: I am the Lord. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 22:8, column 2:
- What ſo euer crepeth vpon earth, ſhall be an abhominacion vnto you, and ſhal not be eaten. […] Make not youre ſoules abhominable, and defyle you not in them, to ſtayne youre ſelues: for I am the LORDE youre God. Therfore ſhal ye ſanctifie youre ſelues, that ye maye be holy, for I am holy. And ye ſhal not defyle youreſelues on eny maner of crepynge beeſt, that crepeth vpon earth: […] 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Leuiticus xj:[41 and 43–44], folio xlvi, verso, column 2:
(obsolete, transitive) To deprive (someone) of their sexual chastity or purity, often not consensually; to deflower, to rape.
- The serial rapist kidnapped and defiled a six-year-old girl.
- The ſecond offence, more immediately affecting the perſonal ſecurity of individuals, relates to the female part of his majeſty's ſubjects; being that of their forcible abduction and marriage; which is vulgarly called ſtealing an heireſs. For by ſtatute 3 Hen. VII. c. 2. it is enacted, that if any perſon ſhall for lucre take any woman, maid, widow, or wife, having ſubtance either in goods or lands, or being heir apparent to her anceſtors, contrary to her will; and afterwards ſhe be married to ſuch miſdoer, or by his conſent to others, or defiled; ſuch perſon, and all his acceſſories, ſhall be deemed principal felons: […] 1769, William Blackstone, “Of Offences against the Persons of Individuals”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book IV (Of Public Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 208:
- VVhat Tongue can ſpeak the reſtleſs Monarch's VVoes; / VVhen GOD, and Nathan vvere declar'd his Foes? / VVhen ev'ry Object his Offence revil'd, / The Husband murder'd, and the VVife defil'd, / The Parent's Sins impreſs'd upon the dying Child? 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, page 490:
- And when Shechem the ſonne of Hamor the Hiuite, prince of the countrey ſaw her [Dinah], he tooke her, and lay with her, and defiled her. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 34:2, column 2:
(obsolete, transitive) To dishonour (someone).
- Come recreant, come thou childe, / Ile vvhippe thee vvith a rodde. He is defil'd, / That dravves a ſvvord on thee. c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- [H]is Character may be Defiled by ſuch Men and dirty Hands as thoſe of the Obſervator, or ſuch as employ him, […] 1708 December 15 (Gregorian calendar; date written), [Jonathan Swift], A Letter from a Member of the House of Commons in Ireland to a Member of the House of Commons in England, Concerning the Sacramental Test, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1709, →OCLC, page 7:
(intransitive, obsolete) To become dirty or unclean.
- [Y]ou vvill find if you do not daily ſvveep you houſes, they vvill defile; and the cob-vvebs they vvill grovv; the Spiders vvill be at vvork; and though your hearts be never ſo pure, Spiders vvill creep into them, […] 1672 January 16 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Caryl, “Sermon II”, in The Nature and Principles of Love, as the End of the Commandment. […], London: […] John Hancock, Senior and Junior, […], published 1673, →OCLC, page 79:
(intransitive, obsolete) To cause uncleanliness; specifically, to pass feces; to defecate.
- There is a thing Harry, vvhich thou haſt often heard of, and it is knovvne to many in our land by the name of pitch. This pitch (as ancient vvriters do report) doth defile, ſo doth the companie thou keepeſt: […] c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v]:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Source
defiled	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
defiled	Tense=Past	lexicographic
defiling	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
defiles	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic

Translations (58)

ru мара́ть (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · nl verontreinigen (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ca pol·luir (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · cs pošpinit (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ja 冒涜する (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · yi באַשמוצן (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ja 濁す (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ru оскверня́ть (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · pt conspurcar (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ga truailligh (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · fi tahrata (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · pdt ve'orreinjen (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ca embrutar (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · got 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · mi hāparu (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ru развраща́ть (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · grc μιαίνω (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · mi whakapoke (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ru загрязня́ть (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · grc μολύνω (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ru растлева́ть (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · nb tilskitne (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · cs poskvrnit (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · de verunreinigen (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · el ρυπαίνω (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · fr souiller (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ang bædan (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · hu bemocskol (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · cmn 污秽 (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ota بوقلامق (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · bg опетнявам (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · nl bevuilen (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · la scelerō (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · el μαγαρίζω (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · grc ἀναπίμπλημι (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · nl bezoedelen (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · fa لگدمال کردن (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · bg осквернявам (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · eo malpurigi (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · la inquinō (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · sw kutia najisi (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · sv orena (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · nl onrein maken (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ro spurca (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ca contaminar (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · el μολύνω (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ga salaigh (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · enm polluten (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · nl ontreinigen (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ga éilligh (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ru па́чкать (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · hu beszennyez (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · la polluo (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · la coinquinō (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · el λερώνω (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · nb besudle (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · el βεβηλώνω (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean) · ja 汚す (to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean)

defile en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

/ˈdiˌfaɪl/ (General-American)
/dəˈfaɪl/ (General-American)
/ˈdiː-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Southern-England) audio
/dɪˈfaɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

PIE word *dwís The verb is borrowed from French défiler (“to march; to parade”), from dé- (prefix indicating actions are done more strongly or vigorously) + one or both of the following: * filer (“to thread through (a crowd)”) (from Late Latin filāre, from Latin fīlum (“fibre, filament, string, thread”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-). * file (“line of objects placed one after the other, file”), from filer (see above), or fil (“thread, yarn; wire”), from Old French fil, from Latin fīlum (see above). The noun is borrowed from French défilé (“parade, procession”), a noun use of the past participle of défiler (verb); see above.

Meanings

(also, figuratively) A narrow passage or way (originally (military), one which soldiers could only march through in a single file or line), especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains.
- All three parallel valleys of the Llynvi, Garw and Ogmore are much the same in physical character: the lower reaches are wooded and not unattractive, but as the railway climbs on ever-steepening grades, the hills on either hand grow barer and closer together, while in all respects the scene becomes more sombre, with the terraced, slate-roofed colliery towns and the road, railway and river all struggling for space in the narrowing defiles. 1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:
- […] I roam / By Thrasimene's lake, in the defiles / Fatal to Roman rashness, more at home; […] 1818, Lord Byron, “Canto IV”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Fourth, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza LXII, page 34:
- [T]hese granite hills, thousands of feet high, were impracticable for heavy troops: the passes through them being formidable defiles, very costly to assault or cover. 1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “Book III: A Railway Diversion. Chapter XXVIII.”, in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Company, published 1937, →OCLC, page 168:
- "For the first time in 125 years a powerful enemy was now established across the narrow waters of the English Channel. ... Many people must have been bewildered by the innumerable activities all around them. They could understand the necessity for wiring and mining the beaches, the anti-tank obstacles at the defiles, the concrete pillboxes at the cross-roads, the intrusions into their houses to fill an attic with sandbags, on to their golf-courses or most fertile fields and gardens to burrow out some wide anti-tank ditch." So wrote Winston Churchill in Their Finest Hour, published in 1949. 2023 November 15, Dr Joseph Brennan, “A crucial part of our nation's defences”, in RAIL, number 996, page 60:
- The next morning the enemy were on the march before him, seized the defiles, blocked the fords of the rivers, destroyed the bridges, and sent out cavalry to patrol the open ground, so as to oppose the Athenians at every step as they retreated. 1960, Plutarch, “Nicias [c. 470–413 b.c.]”, in Ian Scott-Kilvert, transl., The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives […] (Penguin Classics; L102), London: Penguin Books, published 1967, →OCLC, page 239:
- VVe had one dangerous Place to paſs, vvhich our Guide told us, if there vvere any more VVolves in the Country, vve ſhould find them there; and this vvas in a ſmall Plain, ſurrounded vvith VVoods on every Side, and a long narrovv Defile or Lane, vvhich vve vvere to paſs to get through the VVood, and then vve ſhould come to the Village vvhere vve vvere to lodge. 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 353:
- On the final stages of the run from Inverness Class 5 4-6-0 No. 45066 winds its train through narrow rock defiles alongside Loch Carron at the approach to Kyle of Lochalsh. 1962 January, “Motive Power Transition on the Kyle Line”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allen Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, photograph caption, page 17:
- Conſtantine had taken poſt in a defile about half a mile in breadth, between a ſteep hill and a deep moraſs, and in that ſituation he ſteadily expected and repulſed the firſt attack of the enemy. 1776, Edward Gibbon, chapter XIV, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 437:
(also, figuratively) An act of marching in files or lines.
(also, figuratively) A single file of soldiers; (by extension) any single file.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
defilé		alternative	lexicographic
défilé		alternative	lexicographic
defiles	Number=Plur		lexicographic
defilee		alternative	lexicographic

Relateds

enfile · enfilade · defilade · defilement · glen

Translations (38)

de Engpass (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · sh tjèsnac (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · tl banawag (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · bg боаз (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · sh klìsura (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · ru дефиле́ (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · nl engte (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · la pylae (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · ru у́зкий прохо́д (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · de Pass (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · de Hohlweg (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · es fila india (single file of soldiers; any single file) · sh клѝсура (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · el παρέλαση (single file of soldiers; any single file) · fi jono (single file of soldiers; any single file) · es paso (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · la saltus (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · de Bergpass (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · bg проход (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · ru дефиле́ (single file of soldiers; any single file) · ru тесни́на (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · la angustiae (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · mi kapiti (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · es angostura (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · gl groba (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · fr défilé (single file of soldiers; any single file) · fi sola (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · mi kōaka (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · ota دربند (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · es estrecho (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · sh тјѐснац (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · mi kopia (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · el δερβένι (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · es desfiladero (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · la furculae (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · bg дефиле (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains) · es desfile (single file of soldiers; any single file) · gl quenlla (narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains)

wikipedia: Fara San Martino

defile en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

/ˈdiˌfaɪl/ (General-American)
/dəˈfaɪl/ (General-American)
/ˈdiː-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Southern-England) audio
/dɪˈfaɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

PIE word *dwís The verb is borrowed from French défiler (“to march; to parade”), from dé- (prefix indicating actions are done more strongly or vigorously) + one or both of the following: * filer (“to thread through (a crowd)”) (from Late Latin filāre, from Latin fīlum (“fibre, filament, string, thread”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-). * file (“line of objects placed one after the other, file”), from filer (see above), or fil (“thread, yarn; wire”), from Old French fil, from Latin fīlum (see above). The noun is borrowed from French défilé (“parade, procession”), a noun use of the past participle of défiler (verb); see above.

Meanings

(also, archaic, figuratively, intransitive) To march in a single file or line; to file.
- Several bodies of troops defiled towards the frontiers under various pretences; and the whole being ſuddenly aſſembled, formed an army with which the duke of Guiſe [Francis, Duke of Guise] made an unexpected march towards Calais. 1762, David Hume, “[John.] Chapter VII.”, in The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Accession of Henry VII, volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 393:
- They [pigs] defiled down a gully to the water and bunched and jerked their noses at it and came back. 1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree (Vintage Contemporaries), New York, N.Y.: Vintage International, Vintage Books, published May 1992, →ISBN, page 138:
- Without delay, he briſkly attacked them, as they were defiling from a lane and forming themſelves. 1754, David Hume, “[Charles I.] Chapter II.”, in The History of Great Britain, under the House of Stuart, 2nd edition, volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1759, →OCLC, page 332:
- As the multitude defiled into the square, the inquisitors took their place on the seats prepared for their reception. 1855, William H[ickling] Prescott, “Protestantism in Spain”, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume I, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, book II, page 428:
(also, figuratively, obsolete, transitive) To march across (a place) in files or lines.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Source
defiling	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
defiles	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic
defiled	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
defiled	Tense=Past	lexicographic

Translations (7)

sv defilera (to march in a single file or line — see also file) · fi marssia jonossa (to march in a single file or line — see also file) · mk дефили́ра (to march in a single file or line — see also file) · bg дефилирам (to march in a single file or line — see also file) · ru дефилировать (to march in a single file or line — see also file) · es desfilar (to march in a single file or line — see also file) · fr défiler (to march in a single file or line — see also file)

wikipedia: Fara San Martino

defile en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

/ˈdiˌfaɪl/ (General-American)
/dəˈfaɪl/ (General-American)
/ˈdiː-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Southern-England) audio
/dɪˈfaɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

The verb is borrowed from French défiler (“to arrange soldiers or fortify (something) as a protection from enfilading fire; to unthread”) (compare Middle French desfilher (“to unthread”)), from dé- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + enfiler (“to rake with gunfire, enfilade; to string on to a thread; to thread (a needle)”) (from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into; on, on to’) + filer (verb) or file (noun); see etymology 2). The noun is derived from the verb.

Meanings

(also, figuratively, rare) An act of defilading a fortress or other place, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
defiles	Number=Plur		lexicographic

defile en · VERB · etymology 3

Pronunciation

/ˈdiˌfaɪl/ (General-American)
/dəˈfaɪl/ (General-American)
/ˈdiː-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Southern-England) audio
/dɪˈfaɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

The verb is borrowed from French défiler (“to arrange soldiers or fortify (something) as a protection from enfilading fire; to unthread”) (compare Middle French desfilher (“to unthread”)), from dé- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + enfiler (“to rake with gunfire, enfilade; to string on to a thread; to thread (a needle)”) (from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into; on, on to’) + filer (verb) or file (noun); see etymology 2). The noun is derived from the verb.

Meanings

(also, figuratively, rare, transitive) Synonym of defilade (“to fortify (something) as a protection from enfilading fire”).

Forms

Spelling	Features	Source
defiles	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic
defiling	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
defiled	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
defiled	Tense=Past	lexicographic

Relateds

defilement

Synonyms

defilade

defile en · VERB · etymology 1

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Etymology

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Translations (58)

defile en · NOUN · etymology 2

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Translations (38)

defile en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

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Translations (7)

defile en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

defile en · VERB · etymology 3

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Relateds

Synonyms