fillet

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a boneless piece or strip of meat or fish, especially a tender cut of beef or a side of fish

   She baked a salmon fillet with lemon and herbs.

2. 2
   noun

   a narrow band or ribbon, especially one worn around the head or used as an ornament

   The gold fillet encircled the figure's hair in the ancient portrait.

3. 3
   noun

   engineering and architecture: a narrow strip or molding, or a rounded inside corner joining two surfaces

   The designer added a fillet where the bracket met the supporting plate.

4. 4
   verb

   to remove the bones from meat or fish, or to cut it into fillets

   The fishmonger will fillet the trout while you wait.

From Middle English filet, through Old French filet, a diminutive of fil, 'thread,' from Latin filum. The early sense was a narrow band or ribbon; the food sense arose for a strip of meat or fish, perhaps from its shape or from meat tied with string.

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