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