A file is a collection of information stored together, either as papers in a folder or as data on a computer. As a verb, it can also mean to organize documents, submit forms officially, or smooth something with a tool.
It comes from Latin “filum,” meaning “thread,” through Old French “fil,” referring to a string used to hold papers together. The idea shifted from a literal string to an organized collection.
Old paper files were literally “threaded” together, so your computer files are digital descendants of tied-up paper stacks. The same word also names the rough tool that “files” down metal or nails, which likely comes from a different Germanic root entirely.
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