defile

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• Received-Pronunciation: /dɪˈfaɪl/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈdiː-/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American: /dəˈfaɪl/
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• General-American: /ˈdiˌfaɪl/
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• rhymes with -aɪl
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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.

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.

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”)

107 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Bulgarian: дефиле (defile) — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Bulgarian: боаз (boaz) — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Bulgarian: проход (prohod) — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Dutch: engte — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Finnish: sola — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Galician: quenlla — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Galician: groba — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• German: Bergpass — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• German: Engpass — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• German: Hohlweg — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• German: Pass — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Greek: δερβένι (dervéni) — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Latin: angustiae — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Latin: furculae — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Latin: pylae — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Latin: saltus — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Māori: kapiti — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Māori: kōaka — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Māori: kopia — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Russian: дефиле́ (defilé) — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Russian: тесни́на (tesnína) — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Russian: у́зкий прохо́д (úzkij proxód) — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Serbo-Croatian: клѝсура — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Serbo-Croatian: тјѐснац — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Serbo-Croatian: klìsura — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Serbo-Croatian: tjèsnac — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Spanish: desfiladero — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Spanish: angostura — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Spanish: estrecho — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Spanish: paso — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Tagalog: banawag — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Ottoman Turkish: دربند (derbend, derbent, dervent) — narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
• Finnish: jono — single file of soldiers; any single file
• French: défilé — single file of soldiers; any single file
• Greek: παρέλαση (parélasi) — single file of soldiers; any single file
• Russian: дефиле́ (defilé) — single file of soldiers; any single file
• Spanish: desfile — single file of soldiers; any single file
• Spanish: fila india — single file of soldiers; any single file
• Bulgarian: опетнявам (opetnjavam) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Bulgarian: осквернявам (oskvernjavam) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Catalan: contaminar — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Catalan: embrutar — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Catalan: pol·luir — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Chinese Mandarin: 污秽 (wūhuì) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Czech: pošpinit — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Czech: poskvrnit — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Dutch: bevuilen — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Dutch: bezoedelen — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Dutch: onrein maken — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Dutch: ontreinigen — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Dutch: verontreinigen — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Esperanto: malpurigi — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Finnish: tahrata — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• French: souiller — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• German: verunreinigen — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bisauljan) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Greek: λερώνω (leróno) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Greek: μαγαρίζω (magarízo) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Greek: μολύνω (molýno) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Greek: ρυπαίνω (rypaíno) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Greek: βεβηλώνω (vevilóno) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Ancient Greek: μιαίνω (miaínō) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Ancient Greek: μολύνω (molúnō) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Ancient Greek: ἀναπίμπλημι (anapímplēmi) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Hungarian: bemocskol — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Hungarian: beszennyez — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Irish: éilligh — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Irish: salaigh — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Irish: truailligh — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Japanese: 冒涜する (bōtoku suru) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Japanese: 濁す (nigosu) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Japanese: 汚す (yogosu) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Latin: coinquinō — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Latin: inquinō — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Latin: polluo — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Latin: scelerō — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Māori: hāparu — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Māori: whakapoke — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Middle English: polluten — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Norwegian Bokmål: besudle — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Norwegian Bokmål: tilskitne — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Old English: bædan — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Persian: لگدمال کردن (lagadmâl kardan) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Plautdietsch: ve'orreinjen — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Portuguese: conspurcar — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Romanian: spurca — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Russian: па́чкать (páčkatʹ) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Russian: мара́ть (marátʹ) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Russian: загрязня́ть (zagrjaznjátʹ) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Russian: оскверня́ть (oskvernjátʹ) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Russian: растлева́ть (rastlevátʹ) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Russian: развраща́ть (razvraščátʹ) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Spanish: contaminar — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Spanish: ensuciar — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Spanish: impurificar — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Spanish: profanar — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Swahili: kutia najisi — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Swedish: orena — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Ottoman Turkish: بوقلامق (boklamak) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Yiddish: באַשמוצן (bashmutsn) — to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
• Bulgarian: дефилирам (defiliram) — to march in a single file or line — see also file
• Finnish: marssia jonossa — to march in a single file or line — see also file
• French: défiler — to march in a single file or line — see also file
• Macedonian: дефили́ра (defilíra) — to march in a single file or line — see also file
• Russian: дефилировать (defilirovatʹ) — to march in a single file or line — see also file
• Spanish: desfilar — to march in a single file or line — see also file
• Swedish: defilera — to march in a single file or line — see also file