What is "fillet"

Fillet \Fil"let\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filleted; p. pr. & vb. n. Filleting.] To bind, furnish, or adorn with a fillet.

Fillet \Fil"let\, n. [OE. filet, felet, fr. OF. filet thread, fillet of meat, dim. of fil a thread, fr. L. filum. See Fille a row.]

1. A little band, especially one intended to encircle the hair of the head.

   A belt her waist, a fillet binds her hair.
   --Pope.

2. (Cooking) A piece of lean meat without bone; sometimes, a long strip rolled together and tied.

   Note: A fillet of beef is the under side of the sirlom; also called tenderloin. A fillet of veal or mutton is the fleshy part of the thigh. A fillet of fish is a slice of flat fish without bone. ``Fillet of a fenny snake.''
   --Shak.

3. A thin strip or ribbon; esp.:

   1. A strip of metal from which coins are punched.

   2. A strip of card clothing.

   3. A thin projecting band or strip.

4. (Mach.) A concave filling in of a re["e]ntrant angle where two surfaces meet, forming a rounded corner.

5. (Arch.) A narrow flat member; especially, a flat molding separating other moldings; a reglet; also, the space between two flutings in a shaft. See Illust. of Base, and Column.

6. (Her.) An ordinary equaling in breadth one fourth of the chief, to the lowest portion of which it corresponds in position.

7. (Mech.) The thread of a screw.

8. A border of broad or narrow lines of color or gilt.

9. The raised molding about the muzzle of a gun.

10. Any scantling smaller than a batten.

11. (Anat.) A fascia; a band of fibers; applied esp. to certain bands of white matter in the brain.

12. (Man.) The loins of a horse, beginning at the place where the hinder part of the saddle rests.

    Arris fillet. See under Arris.

early 14c., "little headband," from Old French filet "thread, filament; strip, ligament" (12c.), diminutive of fil "thread" (see file (v.1)). Sense of "cut of meat or fish" is from late 14c., apparently so called because it was prepared by being tied up with a string.

c.1600, "to bind with a narrow band," from fillet (n.). Meaning "to cut in fillets" is from 1846. Related: Filleted; filleting.

n. 1 (context now rare English) A headband; a ribbon or other band used to tie the hair up, or keep a headdress in place, or for decoration. 2 A thin strip of any material, in various technical uses. 3 (context construction English) A heavy bead of waterproofing compound or sealant material generally installed at the point where vertical and horizontal surfaces meet. 4 (context engineering drafting CAD English) A rounded relief or cut at an edge, especially an inside edge, added for a finished appearance and to break sharp edges. 5 A strip or compact piece of meat or fish from which any bones and skin and feathers have been removed. 6 (context architecture English) A thin flat moulding/molding used as separation between larger mouldings. 7 (context architecture English) The space between two flutings in a shaft. 8 (context heraldry English) An ordinary equally in breadth one quarter of the chief, to the lowest portion of which it corresponds in position. 9 The thread of a screw. 10 A border of broad or narrow lines of colour or gilt. 11 The raised moulding around the muzzle of a gun. 12 (label en woodworking) Any scantling smaller than a batten. 13 (context anatomy English) A fascia; a band of fibres; applied especially to certain bands of white matter in the brain. 14 The loins of a horse, beginning at the place where the hinder part of the saddle rests. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To slice, bone or make into fillets. 2 (context transitive English) To apply, create, or specify a rounded or filled corner to.

1. v. decorate with a lace of geometric designs [syn: filet]

2. cut into filets; "filet the fish" [syn: filet]

1. n. a boneless steak cut from the tenderloin of beef [syn: filet]

2. a longitudinal slice or boned side of a fish [syn: filet, fish fillet, fish filet]

3. a bundle of sensory nerve fibers going to the thalamus [syn: lemniscus]

4. a narrow headband or strip of ribbon worn as a headband [syn: taenia, tenia]

5. fastener consisting of a narrow strip of welded metal used to join steel members [syn: stopping]

Fillet may refer to:

• Fillet (aircraft), a fairing smoothing the airflow at a joint between two components
• Fillet (clothing), a headband
• Fillet (cut), a piece of meat
• Fillet (mechanics), the filling of an interior corner
• Fillet (picture framing), a small piece of moulding which fits inside a larger frame, also known as a "slip"
• Fish fillet
• Annulet (architecture), part of a column capital
• Fillet (redaction), editing, to cut out letters of a word or name to prevent full disclosure (i.e. "W-----m P--t" for "William Pitt")

In mechanical engineering, a fillet is a rounding of an interior or exterior corner of a part design. An interior or exterior corner, with an angle or type of bevel, is called a " chamfer". Fillet geometry, when on an interior corner is a line of concave function, whereas a fillet on an exterior corner is a line of convex function (in these cases, fillets are typically referred to as rounds).

A fillet (or filet) (, ; from the French word filet ) is a cut or slice of boneless meat or fish.

In the picture framing industry, a fillet (also referred to as a slip) is a small piece of moulding which fits inside a larger frame or, typically, underneath or in between matting, used for decorative purposes. The picture framing term is probably related to, though not necessarily derived from, the engineering term, which it is frequently pronounced similarly to; however, unlike the use of fillets in mechanical engineering, the use of "fillets" in picture frames is wholly decorative.

A fillet was originally worn in classical antiquity, especially in cultures of the Mediterranean, Levant and Persia, including Hellenic Culture. At that time, a fillet was a very narrow band of cloth, leather or some form of garland, and they were frequently worn by athletes. It was also worn as a sign of royalty and became symbolized in later ages as a metallic ring which was a stylized band of cloth.

Egyptian Crown from 17th Dynasty | Relief of Amenhotep III Wearing Fillet Crown | Procession of Officials from reign of Ramses III at Medinet Habu von Delphi Gesicht.jpg| Charioteer of Delphi, wearing a fillet headband, bronze statue (478-474 BCE).

Later, in medieval times, a fillet was a type of headband worn by unmarried women, in certain monkhoods, usually with a wimple. This is indicated in the sign language of said monks (who took oaths of silence), wherein a sweeping motion across the brow, in the shape of a fillet, indicated an unmarried woman.

To fillet in the sense of literary editing is a form of censorship or redaction effected by "cutting out" central letters of a word or name, as if the skeleton of a fish, and replacing them with dashes, to prevent full disclosure (i.e. "W-----m P--t" for "William Pitt"). It was frequently practiced in publications of the 18th century in England. Its purpose was to inform interested readers in an obfuscated manner whilst at the same time avoiding the risk of being sued for illegal publication or defamation or libel by the overt naming of persons as having committed certain acts or spoken certain words. It was used for example in the Gentleman's Magazine's parliamentary reports published from 1738 onwards under the title of the "Debates in the Senate of Magna Lilliputia" in which in order to circumvent the prohibition of the publication of parliamentary debates of the English Parliament the real names of the various orators were filleted or replaced by pseudonyms or anagrams, for example, Sir Robert Walpole was thinly disguised as "Sr. R―t W―le".

It was often performed not to avoid legal action but merely to show deference to the privacy of some great personage, or not to offend his imputed sense of modesty by naming him as the author of some great or worthy deed or act.