• vt. 污損，弄臟；染污
• n. 狹谷；隘路
• vi. 以縱隊前進

de-, 向下。-fil, 踩，踐踏，詞源同foil, full(漂洗，洗衣)。引申詞義玷污。

de-, 向下，強調。file, 線，文件。即如同一條線，一線天，用來指山中狹徑。

defile

defile: Defile ‘make dirty’ [14] and defile ‘narrow pass’ [17] are distinct words in English. The former has a rather complex history. It was originally acquired in the 13th century as defoul, borrowed from Old French defouler ‘trample down, injure’; this was a compound verb formed from the prefix de- ‘down’ and fouler ‘tread’, which in turn goes back via Vulgar Latin *fullāre to Latin fullō ‘person who cleans and thickens cloth by stamping on it’, source of English fuller [OE].

In the 14th century defoul started to turn into defile under the influence of the synonymous (and now obsolete) befile [OE], a compound verb derived ultimately from the adjective foul. Defile ‘narrow pass’ was borrowed from French défilé, originally the past participle of défiler, a compound verb based on filer ‘march in a column’ (which is a close relative of English file).
=> fuller; file

defile (v.)

c. 1400, "to desecrate, profane;" mid-15c., "to make foul or dirty," alteration of earlier defoulen, from Old French defouler "trample down, violate," also "ill-treat, dishonor," from de- "down" (see de-) + foler "to tread," from Latin fullo "person who cleans and thickens cloth by stamping on it" (see foil (v.)).

The alteration (or re-formation) in English is from influence of Middle English filen (v.) "to render foul; make unclean or impure," literal and figurative, from Old English fylen (trans.), related to Old English fulian (intrans.) "to become foul, rot," from the source of foul (adj.). Compare befoul, which also had a parallel form befilen. Related: Defiled; defiling.

defile (n.)

"narrow passage," 1640s, especially in a military sense, "a narrow passage down which troops can march only in single file," from French défilé, noun use of past participle of défiler "march by files" (17c.), from de- "off" (see de-) + file "row," from Latin filum "thread" (see file (v.1)). The verb in this sense is 1705, from French défiler.

1. The Agheila defile was kernel of the situation.

阿蓋拉隘路是全局的核心.

來自辭典例句

2. The troops had to defile through the pass.

部隊只得排成單列通過關口.

來自辭典例句

3. Who are these men who defile the grassy borders of our roads and lanes.

是誰污損了我們大路和小路兩旁的草坪.

來自辭典例句

4. Presently this defile took a turn, and a lovely sight unfolded itself to my eyes.

不一會兒,小路轉了個彎, 一派美麗的景色展現在我的眼前.

來自辭典例句

5. Dogs defile the park.

狗會把公園弄臟.

來自互聯網