defile
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defile¹
- /dɪˈfaɪl/ UK
- /ˈdiː-/ UK
- /dəˈfaɪl/ US
- /ˈdiˌfaɪl/ US
Rhymes with -aɪl
Where it comes from
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”)
verb defiles · defiling · defiled
-
To make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean; to befoul, to soil.
[…] It is an euil birde that defiles his owne neſt, […]
Similar: contaminate, pollute, spoil, sully, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth · Opposite: clean, purify, cleanse
- 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.
-
To act inappropriately towards or vandalize (something sacred or special); to desecrate, to profane.
To urinate on someone’s grave is an example of a way to defile it.
Similar: corrupt, defile, desecrate, profanate, profane, profanize, pollute, sully, tarnish, violate · Opposite: hallow, sanctify, avow, behallow, bless, canonize, consecrate, dedicate, inaugurate, martyr, sacralize, sacrate
- To cause (something or someone) to become ritually unclean. 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 ſha
-
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.
Similar: ravish, violate, vitiate, abuse, constuprate, defile, defoul, dishonour, force, misuse, oppress, outrage
- To dishonour (someone). Come recreant, come thou childe, / Ile vvhippe thee vvith a rodde. He is defil'd, / That dravves a ſvvord on thee.
- 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, […]
- 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: […]
defile²
- /dɪˈfaɪl/ UK
- /ˈdiː-/ UK
- /dəˈfaɪl/ US
- /ˈdiˌfaɪl/ US
Rhymes with -aɪl
Where it comes from
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.
verb defiles · defiling · defiled
- To march in a single file or line; to file. Without delay, he briſkly attacked them, as they were defiling from a lane and forming themſelves.
- To march across (a place) in files or lines.
noun defiles · defilé · defilee · défilé
- 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. 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
- An act of marching in files or lines.
- A single file of soldiers; (by extension) any single file.
defile³
- /dɪˈfaɪl/ UK
- /ˈdiː-/ UK
- /dəˈfaɪl/ US
- /ˈdiˌfaɪl/ US
Rhymes with -aɪl
Where it comes from
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.
verb defiles · defiling · defiled
-
Synonym of defilade (“to fortify (something) as a protection from enfilading fire”).
Similar: defilade
noun defiles
- An act of defilading a fortress or other place, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior.
Translations
Every language
verb to make (someone or something) physically dirty or unclean
| 日本語 | 冒涜する bōtoku suru, 濁す nigosu, 汚す yogosu |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 污秽 wūhuì |
| Kiswahili | kutia najisi |
| Português | conspurcar |
| Français | souiller |
| Deutsch | verunreinigen |
| Ελληνικά | λερώνω leróno, μαγαρίζω magarízo, μολύνω molýno, ρυπαίνω rypaíno, βεβηλώνω vevilóno |
| Română | spurca |
| Русский | па́чкать páčkatʹ, мара́ть marátʹ, загрязня́ть zagrjaznjátʹ, оскверня́ть oskvernjátʹ, растлева́ть rastlevátʹ, развраща́ть razvraščátʹ |
verb to march in a single file or line — see also file
| Español | desfilar |
|---|---|
| Français | défiler |
| Русский | дефилировать defilirovatʹ |
noun narrow passage or way, especially a narrow gorge or pass between mountains
| Español | desfiladero, angostura, estrecho, paso |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Bergpass, Engpass, Hohlweg, Pass |
| Ελληνικά | δερβένι dervéni |
| Русский | дефиле́ defilé, тесни́на tesnína, у́зкий прохо́д úzkij proxód |
noun single file of soldiers; any single file
| Español | desfile, fila india |
|---|---|
| Français | défilé |
| Ελληνικά | παρέλαση parélasi |
| Русский | дефиле́ defilé |
Talk about this word "defile." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/defile. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. defile. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/defile "defile." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/defile.Cite this
@misc{defile_2026,
title = {defile},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/defile},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
