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.
⇒ 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.: (a) A strip of metal from which coins are punched. (b) A strip of card clothing. (c) A thin projecting band or strip.
4. Mach.
A concave filling in of a reentrant 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.
© Webster 1913.
Fil"let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Filleted; p. pr. & vb. n. Filleting.]
To bind, furnish, or adorn with a fillet.
© Webster 1913.