Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “shapefile” come from?

shapefile (English) comes from English filé, from French filé, from French filer, from Latin fīlāre, from Latin fīlum, from Proto-Italic fī(s)lom, from Proto-Indo-European gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-.

shapefile (English): A computer file in the Shapefile format, used in...

Definitions

  1. A computer file in the Shapefile format, used in...

Ancestry of “shapefile”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfiléA spicy herb made from the dried and ground...
2Frenchfilépast participle of filer; simple or twisted...
3Frenchfilerto spin; to thread through; to spin a thread
4Latinfīlāre—
5Latinfīlum—
6Proto-Italicfī(s)lom—
7Proto-Indo-EuropeangʷʰiH-(s-)lo-—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʷʰiH-(s-)lo- →