1. [n]  a steel hand tool with small sharp teeth on some or all of its surfaces; used for smoothing wood or metal
2. [n]  office furniture consisting of a container for keeping papers in order
3. [n]  a set of related records (either written or electronic) kept together
4. [n]  a line of persons or things ranged one behind the other
5. [v]  place in a file
6. [v]  register in a public office or in a court of law; "file for divorce"; "file a complaint"
7. [v]  file a formal charge against; "The suspect was charged with murdering his wife"
8. [v]  smooth with a file; "file one's fingernails"
9. [v]  proceed in file

1. \File\ (f[imac]l), n. [F. file row (cf. Pr., Sp., Pg., &
   It. fila), LL. fila, fr. L. filum a thread. Cf. {Enfilade},
   {Filament}, {Fillet}.]
   1. An orderly succession; a line; a row; as:
      (a)
      (Mil) A row of soldiers ranged one behind another; -- in
            contradistinction to {rank}, which designates a row
            of soldiers standing abreast; a number consisting
            the depth of a body of troops, which, in the
            ordinary modern formation, consists of two men, the
            battalion standing two deep, or in two ranks.
   Note: The number of files in a company describes its width,
         as the number of ranks does its depth; thus, 100 men in
         ``fours deep'' would be spoken of as 25 files in 4
         ranks. --Farrow.
      (b) An orderly collection of papers, arranged in sequence
          or classified for preservation and reference; as,
          files of letters or of newspapers; this mail brings
          English files to the 15th instant.
      (c) The line, wire, or other contrivance, by which papers
          are put and kept in order.
                It is upon a file with the duke's other letters.
                                                  --Shak.
      (d) A roll or list. ``A file of all the gentry.'' --Shak.
   2. Course of thought; thread of narration. [Obs.]
            Let me resume the file of my narration. --Sir H.
                                                  Wotton.
   {File firing}, the act of firing by file, or each file
      independently of others.
   {File leader}, the soldier at the front of any file, who
      covers and leads those in rear of him.
   {File marching}, the marching of a line two deep, when faced
      to the right or left, so that the front and rear rank
      march side by side. --Brande & C.
   {Indian file}, or {Single file}, a line of men marching one
      behind another; a single row.
   {On file}, preserved in an orderly collection.
   {Rank and file}.
      (a) The body of soldiers constituing the mass of an army,
          including corporals and privates. --Wilhelm.
      (b) Those who constitute the bulk or working members of a
          party, society, etc., in distinction from the leaders.
   

2. \File\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Filed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Filing}.]
   1. To set in order; to arrange, or lay away, esp. as papers
      in a methodical manner for preservation and reverence; to
      place on file; to insert in its proper place in an
      arranged body of papers.
            I would have my several courses and my dishes well
            filed.                                --Beau. & Fl.
   2. To bring before a court or legislative body by presenting
      proper papers in a regular way; as, to file a petition or
      bill. --Burrill.
   3. (Law) To put upon the files or among the records of a
      court; to note on (a paper) the fact date of its reception
      in court.
            To file a paper, on the part of a party, is to place
            it in the official custody of the clerk. To file, on
            the part of the clerk, is to indorse upon the paper
            the date of its reception, and retain it in his
            office, subject to inspection by whomsoever it may
            concern.                              --Burrill.
   

3. \File\, v. i. [Cf. F. filer.] (Mil.)
   To march in a file or line, as soldiers, not abreast, but one
   after another; -- generally with off.
   {To file with}, to follow closely, as one soldier after
      another in file; to keep pace.
            My endeavors Have ever come too short of my desires,
            Yet filed with my abilities.          --Shak.
   

4. \File\, n. [AS. fe['o]l; akin to D. viji, OHG. f[=i]la,
   f[=i]hala, G. feile, Sw. fil, Dan. fiil, cf. Icel. ??l, Russ.
   pila, and Skr. pi? to cut out, adorn; perh. akin to E.
   paint.]
   1. A steel instrument, having cutting ridges or teeth, made
      by indentation with a chisel, used for abrading or
      smoothing other substances, as metals, wood, etc.
   Note: A file differs from a rasp in having the furrows made
         by straight cuts of a chisel, either single or crossed,
         while the rasp has coarse, single teeth, raised by the
         pyramidal end of a triangular punch.
   2. Anything employed to smooth, polish, or rasp, literally or
      figuratively.
            Mock the nice touches of the critic's file.
                                                  --Akenside.
   3. A shrewd or artful person. [Slang] --Fielding.
            Will is an old file in spite of his smooth face.
                                                  --Thackeray.
   {Bastard file}, {Cross file}, etc. See under {Bastard},
      {Cross}, etc.
   {Cross-cut file}, a file having two sets of teeth crossing
      obliquely.
   {File blank}, a steel blank shaped and ground ready for
      cutting to form a file.
   {File cutter}, a maker of files.
   {Second-cut file}, a file having teeth of a grade next finer
      than bastard.
   {Single-cut file}, a file having only one set of parallel
      teeth; a float.
   {Smooth file}, a file having teeth so fine as to make an
      almost smooth surface.
   

5. \File\, v. t.
   1. To rub, smooth, or cut away, with a file; to sharpen with
      a file; as, to file a saw or a tooth.
   2. To smooth or polish as with a file. --Shak.
            File your tongue to a little more courtesy. --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
   

6. \File\, v. t. [OE. fulen, filen, foulen, AS. f?lan, fr. f?l
   foul. See {Foul}, and cf. {Defile}, v. t.]
   To make foul; to defile. [Obs.]
         All his hairy breast with blood was filed. --Spenser.
         For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind. --Shak.
   

An element of data storage in a file system.

The history of computing is rich in varied kinds of files and file systems, whether ornate (e.g., Macintosh file system for a well-known case) or deficient (e.g., many simple pre-1980s file systems don't allow directories).

However, the prototypical file has these characteristics:

* It is a single sequence of bytes (but consider Macintosh resource forks).

* It has a finite length, unlike, e.g. a Unix device.

* It is stored in a non-volatile storage medium (but see ramdrive).

* It exists (nominally) in a directory.

* It has a name that it can be referred to by in file operations, possibly in combination with its path.

Additionally, a file system may associate other information with a file, such as permission bits or other file attributes; timestamps for file creation, last revision, and last access; revision numbers (a` la VMS), and other kinds of magic.