# fillet

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfɪl.ɪt/ · frequency rank #30,047

## Definitions
1. 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. A heavy bead of waterproofing compound or sealant material generally installed at the point where vertical and horizontal surfaces meet.
4. 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. A premium cut of meat, especially beef, taken from below the lower back of the animal, considered to be lean and tender; also called tenderloin.
7. A thin featureless moulding/molding used as separation between broader decorative mouldings.
8. The space between two flutings in a shaft.
9. An ordinary equal in breadth to one quarter of the chief, to the lowest portion of which it corresponds in position.
10. The thread of a screw.
11. A colored or gilded border.
12. The raised moulding around the muzzle of a gun.
13. Any scantling smaller than a batten.
14. A fascia; a band of fibres; applied especially to certain bands of white matter in the brain.
15. The loins of a horse, beginning at the place where the hinder part of the saddle rests.

## Etymology
From Middle English filet, vylette, felet, filette, flette, from Old French filet, diminutive of fil (“thread”), from Latin fīlum (“thread”).

## Easily confused with
- **fleet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillet-vs-fleet)
- **fills** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillet-vs-fills)
- **filly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillet-vs-filly)
- **filter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillet-vs-filter)
- **filmed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillet-vs-filmed)
- **fuller** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillet-vs-fuller)
- **Finley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillet-vs-finley)
- **fullest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillet-vs-fullest)
- **file** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/file-vs-fillet)
- **fill** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fill-vs-fillet)
- **filed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filed-vs-fillet)
- **files** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/files-vs-fillet)
- **filet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filet-vs-fillet)
- **filled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filled-vs-fillet)
- **fallen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fallen-vs-fillet)
- **filler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/filler-vs-fillet)
- **feller** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feller-vs-fillet)
- **fidget** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fidget-vs-fillet)
- **Fillers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fillers-vs-fillet)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ffillet`, `filelt`, `fillett`, `fillte`, `flilet`, `ifllet`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fillet