English

filetail

From file + tail.

A compound of file + tail

Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo- ‘sinew’

Proto-Italic *fī(s)lom

Latin fīlum ‘thread’

Old French fil ‘thread’

English file

Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- ‘to tear, fray, shred’

…

Proto-Germanic *taglą ‘hair, fiber’

Proto-West Germanic *tagl

Old English tæġel

Middle English tail

English tail

Today it means

adj Applied to various kinds of fish characterized by tails with toothlike grooves.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / filetail